A Testament of Things that Never Will
by Unbiased Abyss
Summary: How will the world change when a battle hardened Naruto from the future comes to the past? With a change of name and appearance this old Naruto will help the Naruto of this new Konoha become the shinobi he was destined to be all the while trying to fit into this new world where those he knew as dead are alive and well. Time travel fic. Will change summery in the future.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto watched in mute horror as Mizuki obliterated his mass amount of shadow clones that he had called up in his moment of desperation. The man had been about to kill Iruka-sensei and he had acted without thinking and managed to pull off one of the coolest things in his life but it seemed that it wasn't enough as the man who was now his enemy tore through his clones. Sure, some got in some good shots and cut him a few times with their kunai but nothing that was too serious.

Mizuki dispatched the final clone and turned his eyes on the real Naruto. His breathing was labored and a small trial of blood leaked down his leg. It seemed that at some point in the brawl one of Naruto's clones had ripped off the cloth of his right leg just below the knee and the man took a shaky step.

"Naruto, run!" Iruka yelled as he threw a kunai into the air. An explosion lit the sky a second later. "See that, Mizuki? ANBU will be here any moment. It's over."

Mizuki chuckled. "That's where you're wrong, Iruka. When the ANBU arrive I'll tell them how an academy sensei and a student stole the Forbidden Scroll and how I was forced to put both of them down. Corpses can't speak and there will be none to question me."

Iruka's eyes widened and he turned to Naruto who hadn't moved from his spot next to his favorite sensei. "Naruto, you have to run."

"No," Naruto growled. "You're my friend, Iruka-sensei, I-I won't leave you to die. Besides," he thumbed his nose and a large grin spread over his face, "we can handle him."

"You think so?" Mizuki questioned and rushed the two without warning.

Iruka threw a kunai at the man but it was dodged with little effort. Naruto charged, as befitting his nature, and learned just how much he had underestimated his opponent when he barely managed to duck under the slash of a kunai.

He stumbled back when Mizuki stabbed at him and he fell onto his back. Mizuki neared him and he worked as hard as he could to back away from the man.

"Mizuki!" Iruka bellowed which changed into a wet cough.

"I want you to watch," Mizuki said. "I want you to watch the life leave the demon's eyes. I want you to watch knowing that there is nothing you can do."

"Naruto! Run!" Iruka called out desperately as he attempted to stand again.

Naruto glanced at Iruka and then back at Mizuki. He could try rushing the man again but he had the feeling that it would only result in an earlier death. He could run, doing as Iruka-sensei was telling him to do but the very thought of doing such a thing left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Prepare to die!" Mizuki screamed and plunged a kunai down toward Naruto.

Everything seemed to slow then. Naruto saw the razor edge of the kunai coming toward him and could hear Iruka crying out for Mizuki to stop. Behind Mizuki he saw the air shimmer and then a blue haze filled a small area. A sound like a tree being torn from it's roots exploded across the clearing and when Naruto registered that something had happened he looked back to where Mizuki was only to find that he wasn't there.

In the place that the traitorous sensei had been standing, ready to take away Naruto's life, stood someone else. There wasn't much to see of the man as he had a black ANBU mask covering his face, black pants typical of a shinobi, black combat boots, and a slim dark green flak jacket over top a tight crimson shirt that went to just past the man's elbow. The thing that was truly strange about the man, besides his sudden appearance, was that his clothing was ripped and torn in dozens of different places and blood stained nearly every part of him. His mask was cracked and looked like it would fall off at a slight breeze.

The man's fist was extended toward Naruto and he looked to where the fist pointed to see that a large tree had been ripped from it's roots when a, now unconscious, Mizuki had hit it.

Naruto look back at the man who had saved him with wide eyes but before he could say anything several other ANBU appeared in the clearing with the Hokage himself among them. There was no movement in the clearing until the man who had saved him collapsed to the ground.

"ANBU," Hiruzen commanded in a voice that Naruto had never heard the old man use before, "take the traitor, Mizuki, into custody. Bring Iruka-san, Naruto-kun, and-" he paused when he looked at the man that had fallen to the ground. "It's blank," he whispered. He frowned and finished, "And the ANBU who took down Mizuki to the hospital. I want to be the first to see the blood analysis of the ANBU with no exception. This ANBU has just returned from an S-rank mission and everything about him is considered S-rank knowledge until I say otherwise."

The ANBU jumped into action and soon Mizuki, Iruka, and the odd ANBU were gone. Naruto struggled when an ANBU made to take him away.

"I'm fine," he hollered and ducked under the cat mask ANBU's reaching hands. "I don't need to go to the hospital."

Hiruzen sighed and waved his hand. "Leave him, Cat," he said. "I'll take Naruto-kun to the hospital myself."

Cat bowed and vanished from sight.

Naruto saw the old man nod and start to walk over to him. He felt his face start to heat up and he said, "I'm sorry, Jiji. I tried to beat him but-" He stopped and felt his words catch in his throat. Kami, he was so embarrassed. He had failed to defeat Mizuki and protect Iruka-sensei and he had failed Jiji when he allowed himself to be tricked into getting involved in this fiasco in the first place.

Naruto flinched slightly when the old man kneeled in front of him and looked down to the ground.

"Look at me, Naruto-kun" Hiruzen ordered.

Naruto hesitated but finally looked up at one of the few men he respected in the whole of Konoha, one of the many he had failed, and was shocked to see a smile on the man's wrinkled face. His eyes seemed to beam with some emotion that Naruto hadn't seen before and he was taken by surprise when he was wrapped into a bear hug.

"I am so proud of you. Naruto-kun," the old man said with an emotion filled voice.

Confusion tore into Naruto's mind and he took a step back when the old man relaxed his hug. "Why?" he asked quietly and his heavy emotions caused him to stutter. "I didn't do anything, Jiji. How could you be proud of me when all I did was fail you?"

"Fail me?" Hiruzen asked aloud. "Naruto-kun, you brought a traitor to light, protected the Forbidden Scroll, fought against an opponent who was vastly stronger than you for the sake of saving a friend and comrade, learned a jutsu that would take most many months, and didn't abandon the battle to save yourself. You displayed a courage that is only rarely seen and you showed a will that burns beyond imagining. You didn't fail me, you showed me what it meant to be a shinobi of Konoha and it is with great pride that I present you this."

Naruto watched as the old man took something from his robes and when he finally saw what it was he couldn't stop tears from leaving his eyes. In the wrinkled hands of the old man was a hitai-ate attached to a black ribbon. Naruto looked at the old man and, after a quick nod of encouragement, he reached out and took it.

It was lighter than he had thought it would be and the ribbon was soft to the touch. He placed it on his forehead and tied it tightly into place. He took a deep breath and looked at the old man with a pride and happiness he had never felt before in his life.

"You are a Genin now, Naruto-kun," the old Sarutobi said. "I would tell you to be at the Academy in a weeks time but due to the traitorous activities of Mizuki, I must perform an investigation to see if this goes any further than him. Because of that, the team assignments will have to be pushed back to about a month from now."

"Ah, what am I supposed to do until then?"

"Train, Naruto-kun. A good shinobi trains often to better their skills and while you have impressed me this night you still have many things to learn before you can become Hokage."

Naruto smiled and said, "Alright, I'll train but where can I do that?"

"You're a shinobi now, Naruto-kun. The training fields are open to you." Hiruzen's face became serious and he said, "Now, I have other things to address tonight and you do need to get a check up in the hospital. Come along."

* * *

Hiruzen watched the procedure with half interest through the one-way glass. He was in the observation room for the operation room that ANBU were taken to when they needed immediate care. The unknown man who had saved Naruto's life was covered in wounds ranging from minor to mortal and the medic-nin were doing their best to save his life. From what a nurse had told him, the man apparently had some form of self-healing ability but they were hesitant to call it a bloodline just yet. Whatever it was, that ability was the only reason he had survived even this long and it was still touch and go.

"Hokage-sama," an exhausted looking medic-nin said as she entered the room. She bowed and handed him a cream-colored folder. "The blood analysis you asked for. None have looked at them, as per your orders."

He took the folder and said, "Thank you, Keiko-san. You are dismissed and may go home. You look tired."

Keiko, a brown-haired medic-nin, was a cute girl and a damn good medic-nin from what Hiruzen knew of her. She was in her mid-twenties, was short, and her facial features were small, hence why many thought she was cute

"Hai, but before I go," she said, "may I speak freely?"

"I encourage it."

"Just what kind of mission did you send this ANBU on?" she asked heatedly. "I don't mean to be offensive, Hokage-sama, but the only reason this man survived this long was strictly due to the healing ability he has and even that seems to have been stretched to its limit. If he had come in even an hour later he wouldn't have made it this long and to be frank, I don't think he will survive the night even if we manage to get the most severe of his wounds taken care of. The strain his body is under is great and that toll will likely kill him over night."

Hiruzen nodded and filed away the new information that was given to him. He smiled warmly and said, "Keiko-san, you never cease to amaze and humble me."

"Hokage-sama?"

"Your level care for your patients is a uniqueness among your field that I have only seen once before and that was Tsunade-san. Honestly, I know of no other medical personal that attend the funerals of those they only knew by being the one who had worked on them and tried so hard to save their lives."

She blushed and said, "Thank you."

"As for the mission of this ANBU," he said and his tone became a touch more serious but still held a gentleness to it, "you know I can't say anything about it."

She bowed. "I understand, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else you wanted of me before I leave?"

"No, you are free to go and thank you for your hard work," Hiruzen said and gave Keiko a deep bow. He already respected medic-nin but the effort that Keiko had put into saving this man she had never met before deserved an even higher level of his respect.

A small look of shock came over her tired looking face and she bowed back before she left.

Hiruzen opened the folder she brought him and studied the papers inside looking for anything that might tell him who this man was or where he was from. There was the typical information about his blood type, height, and weight but after that things became more interesting. The man had massive chakra coils in his body, indicating that he had a monstrous amount of chakra at his disposal. Hell, the man's coils were bigger than even his and he was a Kage.

The man's chakra type was equally lightning and wind, another curiosity that started to make Hiruzen suspect that this man was possibly from Kumo. He read over a list of injuries and began to understand just how lucky the man was to be alive. The typical list only went to about half a page with only one for two minor things but this man's list spilled well into three pages with the majority of the third being life threatening things.

He about closed the folder when he found another page that surprised him. Apparently the man's blood had matched another's in the Konoha data base. He pulled the sheet out from under the rest of the stack and everything seemed to stop when he saw who the blood had matched to a near one-hundred percent.

He pulsed his chakra to call his ANBU and when they appeared he commanded, "Bring me Inoichi Yamanaka immediately. I will take no excuses."

Not even seven minutes had passed when the blonde mind reader came running into the room. He bowed and shot off a quick, "Hokage-sama."

"I know you quit the interrogation force two years ago," Hiruzen said, his eyes never leaving the man in the operation room, "but I must call upon you skills now."

"What's the issue?"

Hiruzen told Inoichi all he knew of the circumstances that had lead up to Naruto being saved by the man based off the information he had gotten from Iruka and Naruto. He explained how the man wasn't one of Konoha's ANBU. "This is why I need you to take me into his mind. We must find out who this man is and if he is a threat. The only reason I have allowed the medical teams to work on him was because he would have died otherwise."

Inoichi nodded slowly. "I don't like it," he said, "but I agree with you we must find out if he is a threat or not. When do you wish to proceed with the mind-walk?"

"Immediately," Hiruzen said. "If he is a friend I will have the medical teams continue their work on him but if he is an enemy I will grant him a swift death for protecting my shinobi."

Inoichi frowned but didn't argue. He understood what had to be done.

Hiruzen and the Yamanaka Head exited the observation room, went down a flight of stairs, and entered the operation room. The smell of blood filled the air and Hiruzen marveled at that. Even during the worst of operations the smell of disinfectant and bleach always beat out the iron smell of blood and it made him wonder just how much of the red liquid had been spilled in the room to do such a thing.

"This will only take a second," he said and made his way to the heavily injured shinobi's head with Inoichi in tow.

The beauty of a mind-walk was that the mind worked faster than the body and one second in the walk would be about three hours in the mind. Inoichi placed a hand on the man's head and his other on Hiruzen's own. The old Sarutobi saw the man concentrate and then the world started to melt away. Colors started to run and blend like water colors and the sharp edge of reality fell away.

Then he was in a ruined city. There was no blending of colors or gradual reveal. A more inexperienced Yamanaka might have done such a thing but Inoichi wasn't a novice.

"By Kami," Inoichi gasped and Hiruzen could understand why.

They were in a ruined city and the smell of smoke and death hung in the air. Black husks were all that remained of some buildings and others were so badly damaged that he wouldn't dare enter them. The sky was dominated by black clouds that warned of a coming rain and behind them Hiruzen could make out a blood red sky.

"Never have I seen such a mindscape," Inoichi commented aloud.

"Is it damaged?" Hiruzen asked.

The man shook his head causing his pony-tail to fling around. "No, if it was damaged you would see cracks in the very aspect of reality but there is none of that here." He turned around, taking in everything he saw, and went rigid.

Hiruzen turned around to see what the Yamanaka had seen and he too tensed. There, in the distance, was unmistakably the Hokage Monument. The face of the Shodai Hokage was nothing more than a crater and the part of the Nidaime's with it. Hiruzen's own head had a large scar running down it and the Yondaime's was charred black. There was another face next to the Yondaime's and Hiruzen didn't understand why the face of his student, Tsunade, was on the monument.

The old Sarutobi swallowed and started walking hesitantly toward the cliff and he heard Inoichi follow. Now that he knew that the ruined city was Konoha he could make out the many different buildings that he was familiar with. He could see the husk of the Hokage Tower with half of the top caved in and he coud see several shops that he frequented as nothing more than rubble.

They walked several blocks before they reached something that made them both stop. In the burnt out husk of a large building was a graveyard. There were dozens of rough stones marking each of the dead that laid below with names that Hiruzen knew on each of them.

Inoichi took a shaky step and pointed to one. "That one has my daughter's name on it," he said with fear and pain evident in his voice. "Who the hell is this person, Hokage-sama?"

"The blood test matched with a person in the Konoha data base," he answered quietly.

Inoichi waited for him to say more but when it became apparent the the old man had said all that he would at the moment he walked to the grave that was marked by his daughter's name. He reached out to touch it but Hiruzen stopped him.

"Is it safe?" the old man asked.

"Y-yes," the Yamanaka head answered. "There are memories stored here and they might answer the question as to who this man is."

Hiruzen let go of Inoichi's hand and when the blonde touched the grave marker the world changed in an instant. There was the same red sky and there were no discernible landmarks in the horizon, just a plain of charred, black earth. In front of the two men was a blonde-haired man that looked distinctly like Minato Namikaze with the only exception being the cloths the man wore. They were the exact same as what the man's whose mind they were in had on.

Hiruzen took a slow step but stopped when his foot hit something. He looked down and saw that it was an arm and he began to notice that the ground was littered with the bodies and parts of humans. Most of the bodies he could identify as samurai but some were clearly shinobi but he couldn't see any hitai-ate to figure out where they were from.

The old man heard Inoichi make a strangled gasp and when Hiruzen looked at him he whispered, "In his arms."

He looked and he saw what made the Yamanaka become emotional. In the arms of the man he looked at earlier was Ino Yamanaka. She was older than the one that he knew by several years but it was easy to see that it was her. She was stunningly beautiful and her eyes were closed. For all intents and purposes she looked like she was sleeping but Hiruzen knew better. This was a memory of her death.

To the right of the man who held the Yamanaka girl appeared a man who the Hokage knew well, Kakashi Hatake.

"Naruto," the man said confirming what Hiruzen had read in the blood analysis report, "we have to go. They will be here soon and our forces are in a full retreat."

"They took her from me, Kakashi," the man said quietly.

Kakashi placed a hand on the man's shoulder and said, "Naruto, we have to go. We can mourn later but for now we don't have the time."

"I was going to ask her to marry me," the man said. "She always talked about wanting to raise a family."

"Naruto," Kakashi started but paused. "You know what has to be done."

"She deserves a hill covered in flowers, Kakashi. Not this."

"She would want you to do this, Naruto. You know what happens to them if we don't destroy the bodies."

The man called Naruto nodded slowly. He didn't move at first but he eventually kissed the girl on the forehead and placed her on the ground. His movements were slow and jerky due to the emotions that he was clearly feeling. He preformed a few hand signs and fire flooded out of his hands and consumed the body of Ino Yamanaka.

Just as fast as the memory had started it ended and the two men were back in the grave yard. Hiruzen could hear the Yamanaka head choking back a sob and he couldn't blame the man. Having been on a few mind-walks in his days he knew that memories that were seen with a Yamanaka couldn't be fake because the Yamanaka would know if they were.

"This man is-" Inoichi stopped when another sob reared its head.

"He is Naruto," Hiruzen finished for the man. "He is Naruto-kun."

"That isn't entirely true," a voice said and Hiruzen looked behind him to see the man who they had just seen holding the body of Ino Yamanaka. He wasn't wearing a mask and the old Sarutobi was shocked at how much he looked like his father. His face was lean and handsome but his blue eyes were dark and held a weight that was rarely seen in men his age.

"You...are Naruto?" Hiruzen questioned.

The man smiled softly and tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement. "It is good to see you again, Sarutobi-san."

"Again?" he questioned and the man who calmed to be Naruto gestured toward a gravestone. The name on it caused a chill to go down Hiruzen's spine, it was his own. "Ah," he muttered.

"Just who are you?" Inoichi asked. His face was stained by he tears that had spilled from his eyes and he had a grim look on his face.

The man was silent and moved through the graveyard without looking at either of them. He placed a hand on a stone here and there and his eyes were glazed over as if he was seeing something that neither of them could.

Finally he turned to them and answered, "I am Naruto Uzumaki."

"How is that possible?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "One moment I was locked in a great battle with the enemy of all mankind and the next moment I was in the clearing saving a kid's life. A kid who looked exactly like me when I was younger. A kid who was convinced by one of his Academy sensei to steal the Forbidden Scroll and learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in the hopes that he would become Genin."

Hiruzen stopped, prevented the shock of the man knowing such things from showing on his face, and thought about what everything he had seen and learned meant. The blood analysis said that this man was Naruto, the memories showed things that only a man from another time could know, Inoichi had all but confirmed that the memory wasn't fake with the way he had reacted, and the man, himself, had acknowledge that he was Naruto and demonstrated it by telling Hiruzen something that only Naruto or someone intimately involved in the Forbidden Scroll fiasco would know.

Hiruzen came to a conclusion and he might have felt silly if it wasn't so apparent. "You're from the future," he stated.

Inoichi gave him a look of confusion and before he could say something Naruto said, "You really are the Professor, aren't you? Anyone else would have found such an idea ridiculous and disregarded it in a heartbeat but you say it with confidence. I'm not sure but I can guess from seeing you that I am from a possible future that will never be."

The old Sarutobi nodded grimly. "With your appearance in this timeline you have already changed the future in such a way that it would be impossible for whatever future you've seen to ever happen. But then, how are you here? How have you not disappeared due to the paradox that your existence creates?"

"Just because it will never happen in this timeline doesn't mean that it hasn't already happened in another," Naruto answered. "The timeline that I am apparently from is now only a parallel of what will never be in this timeline. I am from a timeline of impossibilities and my presence is a testament of things that never will."

"Parallel," the old Hokage whispered. He considered a few things and said, "Well, that explains that."

"You believe him?" Inoichi asked incredulously.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't see a reason not to. All of the evidence suggests that he is Naruto from the future or now a Naruto from a parallel timeline that will never happen. Do you deny what you've seen?"

"No, but, it's just..." he stopped. He frowned as he visibly struggled to find the words that explained his thoughts and finally turned to Naruto. "You loved my Ino?" he asked in a voice only just above a whisper.

"Technically you're Ino is different from the Ino I knew," Naruto answered, "but yes, I loved her."

Inoichi nodded at the answer and stayed quiet.

"Naruto," Hiruzen spoke getting the man's attention, "what of the Kyubi?"

"Kurama?" Naruto questioned. "He's gone, ripped from me a few years ago."

He pointed to the south of the ruined Konoha and Hiruzen could make out a large mountain in the distance. The mountain was destroyed and it looked like something had exploded out of the side of it.

"I survived," Naruto continued, "but it was only due to Kurama giving a farewell gift."

"Your healing ability, I presume?"

"Yes.

The old Hokage studied the man in front of him. He radiated confidence and his presence alone inspired respect. "Are you loyal to Konoha?" Hiruzen asked.

"I would give my life for it," the blonde answered.

"I don't know a way of sending you back to your timeline and I'm afraid that it might even be impossible but would you be willing to fight for this one? Would you be willing to fight to prevent whatever happened in your timeline from happening in this one?"

Naruto seemed to think about what was being asked of him and Hiruzen could only marvel at how much he looked like his father. The man that stood before him was nothing more than a stranger but Hiruzen felt like he had known the man all his life. Perhaps it was due to the man knowing the Hiruzen Sarutobi of his timeline or it was because both of them had survived the worst of what the world could give them but whatever the reason the old Sarutobi felt a connection to the man that made him want to trust him.

"I can't guarantee anything," Naruto finally said, "but I would be honored if I could continue the battle as a Konoha shinobi."

"Good. Inoichi," the pony-tailed man looked at him, "what has been discovered here is considered an S-rank secret."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen turned his eyes on the other blond and said, "As for you, we can't have you running around looking like the Yondaime or the Naruto of this timeline nor can we have you telling others that your name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Understood," the man said. "I went by the name Yuri Karasu for a period of time when I was being hunted by some shinobi. I can also change my hair color to black with a jutsu. With the dramatic change in hair color, the lack of whisker marks due to not containing Kurama, and the slight physical differences caused by my life in my timeline it should be enough to pass off as just another shinobi."

"That will work," the Hokage said. "Your story will be that you are an ANBU of the hunter-nin division who had returned after a failed hunting attempt of an S-rank missing-nin. You have been reassigned to normal Jonin duties until such a time that you're skills are needed again."

Naruto tilted his head to the side and asked, "Will people really buy that?"

"When someone becomes ANBU all their files become Hokage eyes only. This is only broken when it comes to medical reports but even then the medic-nin that operate on the ANBU are ANBU themselves part of the Medical Division of ANBU. The story will work because there is none who could claim otherwise and of those who could are loyal to me."

"Alright," Naruto said and he looked off into the distance, his eyes glazing over for a second before refocusing. "It appears that I must put my full attention on my healing. I'm not out of the woods yet it seems."

"Then as my first order to you as your Hokage; don't die," Hiruzen commanded.

He nodded to Inoichi who closed his eyes and in a blink of an eye they were back in the operating room.

"Medic-nin, you may continue your work," he ordered. "I want hourly reports on his condition and I want to be notified the moment he wakes up. Anything that is seen or heard in this operating room is considered an S-rank secret, am I understood?"

All of the medic-nin in the room answered at once, "Hai," and returned to their desperate attempts at bring the man back from the brink of death.

As the old Hokage and the Yamanaka head exited the operating room, the Hokage asked, "Are you okay, Inoichi-san?"

"I just...I mean I saw-"

"What you saw was something that will never happen," Hiruzen said. "Your daughter is alive and when you return home you will wrap her in your arms to remind yourself of that."

Inoichi nodded and asked if he could go. Hiruzen dismissed him and turned his thoughts toward what the presence of this Yuri Karasu meant for the future of his world.

* * *

Please review, fav, and follow. It means a lot.

Until next time...  
-Unbiased Abyss


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto sat in the soft grass of one of the many training fields in Konoha. He had his eyes closed and took deep breaths as he focused his mind. He was Yuri Karasu now and he had to make sure he didn't slip up when he eventually spoke to others.

He marvelled at how things had changed for him. He had grown used to a life of constant warfare and found it very strange that he was in a place that was safe. He was in Konoha. Not his Konoha for his had been destroyed three years ago right around his twenty-third birthday. It had been hard on him, to see Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man he respected above all others, as he had grown comfortable with the idea of his death but now he had the chance of saving the old man's life and allowing him the peace he so richly deserved. He wasn't the same old man but he gave off the same feel that he, Yuri, hereminded himself, remembered. He couldn't help but relax when in the company of the man.

Things had gone well for Yuri after he met with the Hokage in his mind. He recovered and was allowed to leave three days after being brought into the hospital, much to the shock and displeasure of the medical staff who all but demanded that the old man make him stay. Hiruzen hadn't but he had forced Yuri to mandatorally go into daily check-ups for the next month. They were annoying and took about two hours to do but he had convinced the medic-nin responsible for his check-ups, a cute girl named Keiko, to have them done early in the morning so that they didn't interfere with anything that he was doing during the day.

After being release he had met with the old man and was given a small sum of money, just enough to get a cheaply furnished apartment, replace his cloths, and stock his fridge. He had also arranged for him to do a few D-rank missions every day as a supplemental income. They were simple little things that he had a few kage bunshin do when he was at his check-up. He had also told the Hokage that he wanted his healing ability to be a secret and the old man agreed to his request. He had seen what people would do for power and the ability to survive, with no negative repercussions, something that would kill any normal shinobi was worth doing something drastic for.

It had been five days since he had arrived in this new timeline and he found that he liked the slow life as it had been a long time since he had the time to just breath. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard something and was surprised to see that he had a visitor in his training ground.

**-A Testament to Things that Never Will-**

Naruto marched through the city at a steady pass. He had a month to get ready for team selections and he wanted to make good on the old man's advice. He had been to one of the many training grounds in Konoha every day since he had fought Mizuki-teme and he felt that he was getting stronger. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was just so cool. He always had a training partner to spar against and he could practice his dodging skills with them too. Kami, he was a good shinobi!

He followed the road he was on over a bridge and then followed a dirt path that went into the forest. He had spent the entirety of his first day of training looking for the perfect training ground and had finally found one that was secluded enough that no one would be able to steal his training secrets. He grinned to himself at a job well done.

The path emptied into his training field and he was shocked to see that there was someone sitting in the middle of it. It was a man with somewhat spiky black hair, a slim dark green flack jacket over a crimson shirt, black shinobi pants, and black combat boots.

He thought about what the man was wearing and thought that it looked familiar but couldn't place it. He thought that it might have had something to do with the night he had stol-protected the Forbidden Scroll but if he was honest with himself he knew that he couldn't remember much during the time his kage bunshin were destroyed by Mizuki and when the old man talked to him. The old man had explained that the memory loss was likely due to him experiencing his first dose of killing intent and that it was normal for any shinobi fresh out of the Academy.

He put the nagging feeling of familiarity behind him and called out, "Hey you! This is my training ground so beat it so that I can train. I'm going to be Hokage one day you know!"

The man looked at him and Naruto stopped when a sickening feeling washed over him. The air seemed to thicken and he could feel the slightest change in the air like it was a thick syrup flowing over his skin. His lungs couldn't or wouldn't pull in the offending air and his knees started to shake uncontrollably.

He watched as the man he called out to rose and turned toward him. A feeling of pure terror caused his heart to beat painfully hard when the man locked eyes with him and Naruto unwillingly stared back into the depths of the man's dark blue eyes. They looked at each other for several seconds and then the pressure disappeared.

Naruto gasped for precious air and coughed out, "What was that?"

"Killing intent," the man answered as he walked over to Naruto.

Naruto tried to suck in another breathe but it caught in his throat and he coughed violently. The man crouched next to him, placed a hand on his back, and then Naruto felt a rush of something inside him and he found that he could breath normally again.

"Killing intent is a special type of Genjutsu that is generated when a shinobi or any person pushes their intent to kill another into their chakra and then bursts it out. Unlike most Genjutsu, killing intent can't be dispelled by the normal pulsing of chakra but by countering with your own killing intent or by the disruption of another's chakra in your system. These two methods can also be used to dispel other Genjutsu as well. As you experience more and stronger killing intent the affect it will have on you will lessen," the man explained.

Naruto nodded slowly, his mind processing what he had been told. Killing intent was a powerful tool for a shinobi apparently if it had the kind of effects that Naruto had experienced.

"Yuri Karasu," the man said and extended a hand.

Naruto looked at it suspiciously but took it and shook. "Naruto Uzumaki."

"So, you're training in this field, Uzumaki-san?" Yuri asked.

Naruto grinned and yelled, "Sure am," as he pumped his fist a few times.

"You train alone?"

"I like it that way. I can do my own thing and keep everything I do a secret."

Yuri frowned and said, "True, but if you train alone then you have none to point out your flaws. What is the point of training alone if all you're doing is teaching yourself how to do something wrong?"

"But all of the Jonin train alone!" Naruto barked as his anger got the best of him. Where did this guy get off telling him how to train?

"No, some train alone when they are working on something that requires concentration, like working on a new jutsu or elemental manipulation, but the fact of the matter is that anything that can be done alone can also be done in a group. The advantage of training with another person of equal or higher strength than you is that they may be able to explain something to you that you are confused about or they can tell you when you have done something wrong. You're a new Genin, aren't you?"

Naruto glared at the man but nodded his head. His anger had fizzled out a bit with the man explaining himself but he held onto it for good measure.

"Then where is your team?"

"Don't have one yet. Jiji put off team assignments until about a month from now. So, until then I will be training alone so that when I do get placed on my team I won't be the dead last any more."

Naruto watched the man think something over and Yuri finally said, "How about I train you."

Of all the things he had been expecting Yuri to say it wasn't an offer to be trained. He hadn't been treated well his entire life besides for a few exceptions and he glared suspiciously at the man. He grabbed a kunai that he had stashed behind his back and asked suspiciously, "Why would you do that?"

"Why indeed," Yuri said softly.

Naruto watched the man and when he saw Yuri's hand twitch he had only a moment to raise his kunai to block the incoming blade the man held in his hand. He moved to stab at the black-haired man but before his kunai could even get close he was kicked solidly in the stomach.

He flew back several feet and landed heavily on the ground but rolled onto his feet ready for more. He scanned around for Yuri but the man was nowhere in sight. He growled and cursed himself for letting the man get the jump on him. He heard a heavy footstep behind him and rolled to the side just as Yuri threw a swift punch in the area his head had previously been.

Naruto threw a kunai at the man and crossed his finger. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called out and several dozen popping sounds could be heard as an answer to his call. His clones charged Yuri in a storm of fists and kicks but nothing seemed to connect with the man as he maneuvered out of the way of anything that came at him.

A kunai shrieked past Naruto's ear and he flinched when a clone that was behind him exploded into white smoke and he returned the favor with a kunai of his own but it was pathetically slow when compared to the one that Yuri had thrown. The black-haired man lazily plucked it out of the air, swung it down onto the head of a nearby clone, and ripped another's throat out before casting it into the chest of a third clone.

Naruto called up more clones and ran to the forest. He wasn't getting anywhere with the way things were going now and he figured that things might go better if he had more angles to work with. What actually happened was that Naruto and Yuri started a deadly game of 'find and kill' with Yuri doing the finding and Naruto doing everything in his power to run for his life.

After about an hour of running Naruto ended up in the same training field that he started in and looked around in quick glances to see where Yuri would come from this time. The black-haired man appeared at the edge of the clearing but didn't rush him like he sometimes did and Naruto immediately readied for a sneak attack from another direction. None came and Yuri walked toward him with his hands extended out as a demonstration that he came in peace.

"You did well, Uzumaki-san," Yuri said. "There aren't many who can boast lasting as long as you have after only just becoming a Genin."

"This was a test?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Yuri nodded and sat down on the grass. He motioned for Naruto to join him and didn't seem to mind when he didn't. "I wanted to see what you were capable of before I started to train you."

"Seriously?"

"I'm a shinobi of Konoha, Uzumaki-san. If I had killed you I would have become a missing-nin and would have been hunted down by hunter-nins or the rest of my days. That doesn't sound like a very fun life to me," Yuri commented. "I never had any intention of killing you, I promise."

Naruto lowered his guard slowly and asked, "So, how did I do?"

Yuri looked at him and answered in a serious tone, "You suck."

Naruto's eyes widened and he got ready to scream at the man who would insult him so but before he could do anything he found himself slammed onto his back with a kunai to his throat.

"This is one of your biggest problems," Yuri said, his eyes locked onto Naruto's. "You're impatient and allow your emotions to dictate what you do. If you had stayed calm and observant you might have noticed my left leg move forward slightly in preparation for the rush. You need to learn patience, emotional control, and to always be aware of what is going on around you."

The man removed the kunai from Naruto's neck and reached out a hand to help him up. Naruto took it hesitantly and when he was on his feet he rubbed his neck.

"You have good stamina," Yuri continued, "for a Genin and your ability to spam the Kage Bunshin like you do is a gift from Kami."

"How so?" Naruto asked skeptically. "Sure they're useful but they pop so easily that I'm not sure what else I can do with them other than diversions and sparring partners."

The man sighed and said, "Create a clone." Naruto did as he was told and Yuri continued, "Now, go over there and leave the clone here."

Naruto frowned but walked a short distance away. As he was walking he stopped and yelled, "I am not an idiot!"

He marched back and Yuri said with a small smile on his face, "How did you know that I called you an idiot?"

"I-" Naruto began to say but stopped. How had he known that? He hadn't heard but one second he didn't know and the next it was like he had lived it. The memory was fresh in his head but so too was the memory of walking away. It was like he had two memories that happened at the same time and it was a little strange to think back on because he couldn't think of one of the memories without thinking of the other at the exact same time with equal clarity.

"Weird, I know," Yuri said, "but that is the secret of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This trick it immensely helpful and a powerful tool for a shinobi who can pull it off."

Naruto thought about what had happened but he didn't see how it could help with training and voiced just that. "I don't get it," he said with confusion.

"If your clone reads a book and dispels itself you will gain the knowledge that the clone gathered. To put it simply, you can read a book without actually reading the book," Yuri explained.

Read a book without reading the book. Naruto grinned and started to get excited. If he hadn't met Yuri than he wouldn't have learned this trick and he bowed to the man. "Thank you for teaching me this."

"You say that as if it is the only thing that I will be teaching you," Yuri said. "I said that I was going to train you and I meant it. While we are training you will call me, Yuri-sensei, and you will do as I tell you."

Naruto frowned. "Why should I call you sensei? I get that you will be teaching me but we're not in the Academy and you're not my Jonin-sensei."

"It is a sign of respect, something that you lack in your interpersonal skills. As a shinobi, you will be performing missions that will require you to deal with clients and being respectful to them will go a long way in their satisfaction with the job. If the client is happy there is a better chance that they will deal with Konoha again and the economy will benefit," Yuri answered. "I said that I would train you and that doesn't just apply to physical and mental training. I will also be showing you how a true shinobi should act and it is quite possible you will mature a small bit from it."

"I'm not immature!" Naruto yelled. He noticed the annoyed look on Yuri's face and swallowed loudly. "M-maybe I am. A little."

"I understand why you act the way you do," the black-haired man said. "I understand that you are an orphan and before you ask about how I know that it came up when I was speaking with the Hokage. I am an orphan as well and he mentioned your name and that you were too. I have been away from the village for some time due to a mission and he was explaining everything that had changed since I left."

"You're...an orphan," Naruto said slowly. He hadn't expected that and felt a small connection form with the man.

"Yes and it is because of that that I understand why you act the way you do." He paused and a few seconds went by before he started talking again, "You are desperate for attention. You crave it and have discovered that if you act like a fool, if you act in such a way that people notice you, you get their attention. You don't care if it is good or bad attention as long as they notice you. As long as they acknowledge that you exist." Yuri stood and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You have my attention, Uzumaki-san. You don't need to act the fool."

Naruto felt a slight burning in his eyes and he sniffed loudly. He wasn't going to cry. He was a shinobi and shinobi don't cry. "I-I'm ready. To start training. I'm ready, Yuri-sensei."

"Good," the man said and took a few steps away. "For now, I want you to make about thirty clones."

Naruto did as he was told but instead of thirty clones he created about fifty. He blushed at his mistake but Yuri didn't appear to mind and the blonde got the feeling that the man had been expecting it to happen. He gaped when he saw five copies of his new sensei just appear behind the man. There was no sound, no smoke, and he didn't make a single hand sign. They just appeared from thin air and Naruto stared, wide eyed.

"You are nowhere near being able to do that," Yuri answered Naruto's unspoken question. "The amount of control required for that is far above you at the moment but I will teach you how to do it when you are capable."

His sensei waved at his clones and said, "Send ten of your clones with each of mine. Since you made more that I asked I can start working on two other things that will help you out. One set will be taught patients the best way I know how and the rest of the extras will accompany my clone to the library. There they will read books on history, chakra, chakra theory, jutsu theory, and anything else my clone deems necessary."

"Why do I have to learn history?" Naruto asked with a slight pout. It made no sense to the young blonde why a shinobi had to learn anything about the history of anyone or any place. Why waste the time on something that he would never use?

"'Learn from the past so that you don't repeat the mistakes.' Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, said that, " Yuri said. "You will learn the history of not only Konoha but also Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, and Suna because you can use that information in many different situations. When visiting these countries you will know their customs and will be able to demonstrate the proper respect. Another use is that if you ever fight a shinobi from these areas you will be familiar with their potential tactics and be able to plan or fight accordingly."

Feeling thoroughly put in his place and regretting not paying attention in class, Naruto conceded and sent out the clones that were asked for. He watched as the twenty clones left the clearing with two of Yuri's own.

"Time for a lesson," Yuri said. "Muscle memory is a mental process and because of that training can be done in that area with clones. You have kunai and shuriken throwing down pat but that is to be expected of an Academy graduate. However, your reaction time and how you react in general to a threat needs some work. Ten of your clones will work towards fixing this problem."

The man nodded and a clone took another group of ten into the forest. "I noticed during our little fight that you don't really have a definitive style of combat so I will be teaching you two of the taijutsus I know. The first is called, Tetsu Sheru, and is a defensive taijutsu. The simplified explanation of it is the creating of a shell of awareness around you. When an attack of any sort enters this shell you will be aware of it and be able to react to it effectively and decisively.

"The second style that I will teach you is an offensive style called, Odayakana Kaze. It involves remaining calm in a combat situation and is made up of swift attacks that focus on critical points in the body. This style, in the hands of a master, has the ability of killing an enemy in one blow and is not to be taken lightly. Do you understand the responsibility that I am placing on your shoulders by teaching you this style?"

Naruto tilted his head and said, "Uh, yeah I got it."

Yuri frowned and said, "I won't tolerate you lying to me, Uzumaki-san. When you are learning this style there are very specific katas that you will be told are never to be used unless you have the intent of killing your opponent. If I ever see you using these katas in a friendly spar I will beat you into the ground, break your legs, and never teach you again. Am I understood?"

Naruto gulped and stuttered out a quick, "Hai." With the way Yuri looked at him he knew that the man had meant what he said. He promised that he would never use the katas in a friendly spar and he meant it. When Naruto made a promise he always kept it.

His sensei waved and a clone and ten of his clones went to train in the norther part of the training ground. Yuri sighed and said, "It also became apparent to me that you have absolutely no chakra control whatsoever. A group of clones will work to fix this as well."

With the rest of the clones gone, Naruto was left alone with Yuri and he waited for the man to tell what they would be doing. The black-haired man reached into his pouch and pulled out a brush and an ink container.

He waved for Naruto to come to him and when Naruto got close Yuri said, "Take off your shirt."

"What!?" Naruto screamed and jumped back.

Yuri vanished and suddenly a fist connected with the back of Naruto's head. "You idiot," Yuri said. "I'm going to put a gravity seal on you to help with your physical training and to do that you will have to take your shirt off."

"A gravity seal?" Naruto questioned.

"Many shinobi use weights to help build their strength and while it is effective I'm not much of a fan. The weights are centered on very specific places on the body and as such nothing gets trained equally. Arms and legs become incredibly strong but the core and internal muscles are vastly weaker. A gravity seal will spread out a weight over your whole body and affect every single muscle equally. Doing it this will will increase the strength of your extremities and also your core and internal muscles as well."

Naruto's face scrunched up as he thought about what the man had said and finally asked, "Wouldn't having that weight on me cause me to not grow as much as I otherwise would?"

Yuri chuckled and Naruto got the notion that he had just said something stupid. "On any other shinobi that might be the case but you're a special exception, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto placed a hand on his stomach and took a step back. "You know?"

"I am aware of the Kyubi," he answered. "Do not fret, I have no intention of telling anyone that doesn't know and I don't look at you any differently then any other shinobi. I am familiar with having heavy burdens thrust upon my shoulders."

"You...don't care that I have the Kyubi sealed in me?"

"Not in the least. I do, however, care about the fact that you have gained an advanced healing ability from your predicament. Have you ever noticed that, after the days after a heavy workout in the Academy, that you never felt as bad as the others in your class?"

Naruto did remember those days. He had always associated them with him not working as hard as everyone else and he always tried to push himself harder and harder when they did physical activities but he always met with the same results. "I," he said slowly, "have a healing ability?"

"Yes," Yuri confirmed. "Now, will you let me put the seal on you or not?"

Naruto took off his jacket and shirt and sat down. The ink was cold on his skin and Yuri explained how to operate the seal as he worked on it. It was pretty simple, if he wanted more weight he focused some chakra into it and if he wanted less weight he released chakra from it. Yuri also reassured him that the seal would be invisible and only become visible when he was adjusting the amount of chakra he had in it. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he was told that. He did not was to run around with ink painted on his back for all the world to see when he took his shirt off.

Yuri stood and stretched his back. "All done," he said. "Try pushing some chakra into the seal. I would say about a single clone's worth."

Naruto did as he was told and his body was immediately weighed down. It wasn't ridiculously heavy but it was very noticeable.

"Good, you did great. When you get used to the weight just increase it by however much you're comfortable with. Don't go overboard, however, and put to much into it. It isn't a competition to increase your weight as fast as you can and if you do it too quickly all you will accomplish is hurting yourself. If you do this I will remove the seal and make you use training weights. Understood?"

Naruto grinned as his moved his arms up and down, feeling how the seal affected the movement. "Hai," he said and did a test jump. He landed and his knees buckled slightly. So, it was heavier than he thought it was, sue him.

Yuri chuckled and Naruto grinned even bigger. He had to say, the man was scary when he first met him but Yuri was the first person to ever take a serious interest in him and it made him feel like he didn't have to put on as much as a show to gain his attention.

"Ready when you are!" Naruto cheered. "Let the training begin!"

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Yuri-sensei was the devil, Naruto was convinced. Every muscle in his body screamed in harmonious pain and his brain hurt from all of the stuff his clones had learned. He had gotten a single kata down for each of the styles he was being taught and his clones had worked on sticking leaves to their foreheads causing him to gained a rather large boost to his control. Yuri said that it was to be expected because he had never done a control exercise before in his life and that the benefits would slowly go down until all he could manage was maintaining the control he was at, but that was a long ways off.

His clones that went to the library had tried slacking off at the beginning as it seemed that even they didn't like the idea of reading but when each of them epically failed the questions that Yuri's clone had asked them about what they had read they began to take an actual interest. Naruto could vividly see the disappointment in his sensei's face and vowed to never see it again as it hurt him more than anything he had ever experienced before. As it turned out, his knowledge of history and chakra was in the pits but with the help of his sensei he was confident that he would know everything that he needed by the time team assignments arrived.

His clones that had been taken to hone his reflexes had been put through hell and his heart beat painfully fast whenever he thought about the anxiety of waiting for Yuri's clone to attack them. He had been shown how to react to attacks from different directions, including from above and below, and he found that he was a little jumpy because of the training. As for the training in patience, all his clones had learned how to meditate and it was boring, incredibly boring.

All in all, Naruto had the best day of training that he had ever had in his entire life. He felt like total crap but Yuri reassured him that he would feel better after a good nights sleep but all he really wanted was something to eat so it was with a small jump in his pained shuffle that he arrived at Ichiraku.

He sat down and when Ayame saw him she gasped. "Naruto," she said, her voice filled with concern, "are you alright?"

He knew the question had been coming. The training had been rough and his jumpsuit had suffered horribly from it. It was covered in stains, cuts, and one of his sleeves was torn clean off. "I'm fine," he said.

"Yes, training was a tad rougher than he had thought it would be," the deep, strong voice of Yuri said from the stool next to him.

Naruto glance over and saw the black-haired man sitting contently on the stool. His eyes scanned the menu that was place on the wall above the counter and a frown crossed his lips. "There's a reason you're so short, Uzumaki-san, if this is all you eat."

"Don't knock Ichiraku's ramen until you try it," Naruto growled. "Three bowls of Miso ramen, Ayame-chan!"

Yuri casually reached over and flicked the side of Naruto's head. "Manners."

Naruto blushed and said, "Please."

Ayame giggled and replied, "It's no problem, Naruto-kun. And what will you have?"

"A beef ramen, if it isn't too much trouble," Yuri said. "Can I also ask you a question?" Ayame nodded and he asked, "How often does Uzumaki-san eat here?"

Naruto heard Teuchi's deep belly laugh come from the back room and the old man walked out into the front of the ramen bar. "Naruto-kun is one of my most loyal customers. He eats here at least once a day."

Yuri sighed and closed his eyes. "As I thought."

"What's the matter, Yuri-sensei?" the young blond asked.

"You're suffering from malnutrition, that's the reason you're so damn short."

Naruto bristled from the statement about his height. It wasn't his fault that people wouldn't sell things to him and he liked eating at Ichiraku. He liked seeing Ayame-chan and Teuchi-jiji.

Yuri must have noticed his rising anger because he raised a hand and said, "Calm, Uzumaki-san. I meant no offence."

"He is right, Naruto-kun," Ayame agreed. "You are pretty short."

Naruto gasped, shocked. "You too, Ayame-chan?!"

She laughed and his sensei said, a rare smile on his face, "Don't worry, Uzumaki-san. With your healing ability, you will grow to a normal height when you start getting a better nutritional balance."

"Really?" Naruto asked with a sudden hope.

His sensei nodded and looked to Teuchi-jiji. "Excuse me, Teuchi-san. Would you happen to-"

"So, you have a sensei, Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked.

Naruto ignored his sensei and Teuchi-jiji's conversation and answered, "Yep. I found him in my training field and after some talking, Yuri-sensei offered to train me to get ready for team selections. I had been doing fine by myself but after today's training I realized just how much I was lacking."

"You sound like you appreciate Yuri-san's help."

He nodded. "I do. He looked at my skills and told me what I needed work in. He is also teaching me his own styles of taijutsu. I want to become really strong before team selections so that I can show everyone that I'm not a dead last."

Ayame smiled and said, "I can't wait for you to do that but after you show everyone how wrong they were about you what will you train for then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, after you've shown everyone that you're not a dead last what will you get stronger for? If that is all your training for, Naruto-kun, then that sounds a little selfish to me," Ayame said with concern in her eyes.

Naruto thought about what she said. If the only reason he was getting stronger was to prove everyone wrong was he doing it for the right reason? That was what he had always wanted but now that he thought about it, it wasn't all that great of goal. For some reason it just didn't hold the luster that it used to.

"You know," he said slowly. "I'm not sure what I want to get stronger for anymore."

"Well," Ayame said, "don't all shinobi get stronger to make them better fighters? Why not think about what you want fight for? You might find an answer there."

What he wanted to fight for? That wasn't really something he had considered before. Sure, he had heard of other's reasons for fighting. All the different Hokage's fought for Konoha but what did it mean to fight for Konoha? Did it mean that he fought for the city or did it mean that he fought for the people in it? He scratched his head and stayed silent as he thought about what he wanted to fight for.

"Here, drink this," Naruto heard Yuri say and a glass full of a green liquid appeared in front of him.

"What is it?" he asked and sniffed it. He gagged. "It smells like crap!"

"I expect so," Yuri said. "It is something that I made from some ingredients that Teuchi-san had in his inventory. I've purchased enough of the items for five more days worth of that stuff and you will drink it every day after training. The drink contains vitamins and minerals that you need. It appears that I must also teach you how to take care of yourself as well as prepare you for the shinobi life."

Naruto stuck his tongue out and downed the green stuff as fast as he could. He shivered and screamed, "Disgusting!"

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Hiruzen scribbled something onto a report and placed it on the edge of his desk. Being Hokage wasn't all it was cracked up to be and much of the time was spent reading, fixing, and signing reports, proposals, and anything else that was deemed important enough for him to look at.

He rubbed his eyes when a knock came from the door. He leaned back in his chair, snatched his pipe from his desk, and said, "Enter."

To his surprise it was Yuri Karasu. The man had been released five days ago from the hospital and that was the last time he had seen the man. He would have liked seeing him more due to the circumstances that surrounded him but with the investigation into the Academy and preparing teams for the Genin team selections he was a little too busy to see him.

"Do you have time to talk, Sarutobi-san?" the man asked in a tone that Hiruzen had grown used too. It was a lower tenor that spoke of great patience and wisdom. It was a tone expected of an old man and was surprising to hear from one so young. He could only guess as to what the man had witnessed to cause him to mature so much past his age.

"Anything to get me away from this paperwork," he responded and took a pull from his pipe.

Yuri sat down in the chair that sat in front of his desk and a comfortable silence filled the room. "I met Naruto Uzumaki today," the man said eventually.

"Did you?"

"I've offered to train him until team selections. He's got a long ways to go but he is a hard worker and the kage bunshin help immensely. A bit thick-headed when it comes to some things but overall he will be fine."

Hiruzen smiled. "You sound confident."

"Shouldn't I?" Yuri asked.

"True, I suppose he is a younger you."

"No," the man said. "The boy that would become me is gone, disappeared the second he met me. I never had anyone to help me, to teach me what it meant to be a shinobi, until I was placed with my Jonin-sensei and even then I was more busy with chasing a specific girl then taking my shinobi training seriously."

Yuri chuckled and Hiruzen asked, "You find something amusing?"

Yuri smiled a small, soft smile that the old Sarutobi had seen many times. It was the smile of someone who had seen things that made them question the goodness of humanity. He had seen it many times on veterans of the Second and Third Shinobi Wars and in the mirror of his own home.

"It is only now," Yuri said unaware of the old Hokage's thoughts, "that I realize just how lucky I am to be alive. Just how lucky I am to have survived everything that I have. It is amazing just how weak I was when I was young and after training with the boy I am convinced that I should be dead. He is slow, weak, stupid, and predictable and it scares the hell out of me that I was once like that."

Hiruzen blow out a cloud of smoke and said, "He is only a Genin and a new one at that, Yuri-san. Give Naruto-kun at least a little credit."

"You're right, perhaps that was a bit too harsh," the black-haired man replied. "While he is all that I said, he is also one of the hardest workers that I have ever seen, he is learning my taijutsu styles far faster than I had thought he would, and with the use of his kage bunshin he will catch up with his peers in his studies by the time team selections takes place. I suppose he is deserving of more praise but only because he is a Genin."

"We were all Genin at some point in time," he said and knocked the tobacco out of his pipe. "Allow the boy time to learn and practice and he will grow into a fine shinobi."

"A fine shinobi?" Yuri questioned. "When I'm done with him he will be more than that."

Hiruzen smiled as he packed his pipe with fresh leaf. "When I first learned who you were," he said, "I had no idea what would happen. I contemplated killing you then and there for fear of what you might know or what you might do but I gave you a chance and I don't regret it in the least."

The man smirked. "You are a better man than me, old man."

Hiruzen looked at the man, they were both silent for a second, but a slow rumbling filled their bellies and soon both started to laugh. He wiped a tear from one of his eyes and used a small amount of katon manipulation to light his pipe. He sucking in a breath and exhaled a perfect circle into the air.

"If Naruto-kun became a man similar to you," he said and looked Yuri in the eyes, "I would be proud."

Yuri bowed his head. The comfortable silence returned and neither moved to break it. Hiruzen finished his pipe and knocked out the burned leaf again. He frowned at how fast it had gone and move to stuff in some new leaf in.

He was stopped, however, when Yuri asked, "Would you like to spar?"

Hiruzen gave the man a questioning look and said, "A spar? It has been a long time since I have stretched these old legs, Yuri-san."

"All the better reason to do it," the man said as he stood up.

There was a new light in his eyes, one that had been missing since he had first seen the man. He didn't know what it was but the man seemed more relaxed. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him and he was able to finally breath for the first time in what seemed like his whole life.

Hiruzen placed his pipe on his desk and folded his hands. "Oh, why not. I could use the exercise."

* * *

Please review, fav, and follow.

Until next time...  
-Unbiased Abyss


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto hurried to the bridge that was on his way to his training ground. Yuri had told him to meet him there at around eight in the morning and he didn't want to be late. He had overslept by about an hour and he had to skip breakfast just to hope to make it to the meeting on time. This is what he got for staying up too long reading a few of the books that he had rented from the library. He had never been to the library and he guessed that he still technically hadn't, but his clones had so he counted it. With his sensei's help he had managed to rent some of the books that he had been reading and he wanted to finish them before the next days training.

As it turned out, that had been a really dumb idea as it caused him to get to sleep at an ungodly hour and he was now almost late. He charged down the road, his legs burning with the effort due to the gravity seal, and spotted the bridge in the distance. He had to give it to Yuri, whatever had been in that green stuff had really worked wonders. He didn't hurt from the training and he felt better that he had in a long time. He felt stronger and he liked it.

He reached the bridge and found his black-haired sensei leaning on the railing of the bridge. He had a scroll in his hands and rolled it expertly as he read. Naruto was amazed at how fast his eyes moved over the page and he didn't doubt that the man was understanding everything he was reading. With the amount of understanding he expected when Naruto was reading he knew that the man wasn't letting even a single drop of information slip his grasp.

Naruto grinned and said, "Hello, Yuri-sensei."

The man rolled the scroll up with practised ease and stepped away from the railing. Yuri smiled and said, "Good morning, Uzumaki-san. How are you feeling?"

"Great," he shouted. "I haven't felt better than this in a long time."

"That's good to hear." Yuri started to walk toward the village and said, "Did you bring your wallet like we talked about?"

"Hai," he said and pulled out a frog shaped pouch. "I'm still not sure why you told me to bring it."

His sensei waved for him to follow and Naruto fell into step next to him. "I am training you, Uzumaki-san, but that doesn't mean that I will be covering your expenses."

Naruto pouted. "What am I buying?"

If there was one thing that Naruto hated it was spending money needlessly. He had always been alone and he knew the value of a single yen. He remembered the many nights he waited for his orphan check to come in. His stomach would ache for food but he had to save the little he had so that he could at least have a mouth full for the next few days. He never wanted to go hungry again and he wouldn't buy anything unless there was a very good reason for it.

Yuri looked at him. Naruto still found it strange, looking into the man's eyes. It was as if his mind was being read because his sensei always seemed to understand his reasons for asking or doing something when he did it.

"You're hesitance is warranted," he said, "but what you're going to be purchasing will save your life."

"What is it?" Naruto asked. His mind raced with possibilities. A weapon perhaps or maybe some kind of secret scroll with a jutsu that can summon a giant typhoon. Or maybe even a ninja pet that could help him fight in battles.

"New clothes."

Naruto's thoughts screeched to a halt. "New clothes..." he said as if he hadn't heard right. His brain finally registered what Yuri had said and he yelled, "New clothes!?"

"Hush, Uzumaki-san," his sensei scolded him. "A shinobi is ever quiet and, yes, new clothes. The monstrosities that you currently wear can be seen on a new moon night with your enemy's eyes closed. If you are serious about being a shinobi than you must dress the part as well."

"But, but orange," Naruto gasped. He loved his jumpsuit and he would be damned if he allowed this orange hating jerk take it away from him.

Yuri glanced at him and said, "I know that you are taken with your jumpsuit but you must understand that this is for the better."

Naruto shook his head. He had saved his jumpsuit from the trash and he wasn't about to give it up without a fight.

His sensei sighed. "Listen," he said, "I get it, you like your jumpsuit but orange is just too visible. If you wear that on a mission you will not only be putting your life at risk but the lives of the shinobi with you. You have to understand, Uzumaki-san, that there are very few choices that you will make as a shinobi that don't affect another person. If you wear that, you will be spotted, and allies will die due to your childish attachment to that jumpsuit."

Naruto stood his ground and said, "I bet other people like my jumpsuit."

Yuri shook his head and said, "Fine, tell you what. We will ask the owner of the store that we are going to what they think of your jumpsuit. If they like it then I will drop the issue but if they don't then you must get something new. I'm not asking you to spend too much money but enough to get something that will help you stay hidden when out on a mission."

Naruto grinned. There was none who could doubt the power of the color orange and he nodded. "You got yourself a deal."

They continued a short ways into the town and Naruto took notice of people glaring at him. He was used to it and now that he knew what was sealed in him he couldn't entirely blame them. Sure, it wasn't exactly his choice to have the Kyubi sealed inside him but he could understand the resentment that people had for the beast within him. Did it justify how they treated him? No, but it went a long ways in helping him cope with the glares and soft mutters of hate that he could hear.

He stumbled when he felt the air thicken for a second and his heart started to beat faster. He shot a look at his sensei who had just let off a short jet of killing intent. It was weaker than what he had subjected Naruto and his poor clones to the previous day but for the citizens that crowded the street it was as if someone had just set off an explosive tag. Some people fell to the ground and others scrambled into shops to get away of the unknown danger that was on the street.

"Tell me, Uzumaki-san," Yuri said without any indication of what he had just done, "why do you like the color orange so much?"

"I like it because when I wear it everyone notices me," he answered automatically.

He thought about what he said and something didn't quite click with him. While it was true that he wore it to be noticed, that statement went against everything that he had learned about being a shinobi yesterday. Shinobi were supposed to be ghosts in the night but he stood out like a sore thumb for the attention it gathered. A grim thought crossed his mind, maybe it was time to get rid of his precious orange jumpsuit.

They walked in silence. Yuri must have noticed that he wanted time to think and didn't intrude on that. Naruto followed the man down a few streets and, when he entered a shop, he looked at the sign. The Flying Dragon.

Naruto shrugged and enter the establishment. The front half of the store was dominated by racks and racks of clothing of different colors and styles. The back half was filled with weapons of every type and he eyed them with interest.

"We are here for clothing, Uzumaki-san, not a weapon," Yuri said. "When you progress more in you training you may pick up a weapon but for the time being it will only hinder you."

Naruto frowned but accepted the advice. Yuri knew what he was talking about and Naruto trusted his judgment.

"Excuse me," his sensei called. "I need a second opinion if it isn't too much trouble."

There was some clattering from around a rack of weapons and out walked a girl. She had a pink top on, dark grey pants, and blue shinobi sandals. Her brown hair was up in two buns and she smiled happily at them.

"Welcome to the Flying Dragon," she said cheerfully. "I'm Tenten, how can I help you?"

Yuri didn't say anything for a second and just stared at the girl. Tenten looked between his sensei and him but Naruto had no idea what the man was thinking. Finally, Yuri shook his head and rubbed his temple.

"Forgive me," he said. "You look similar to a friend of mine and I thought I had seen a ghost."

Tenten smiled and waved her hand as she said, "Think nothing of it. What can I help you with, sir?"

He pointed at Naruto and said, "What do you think of his clothes?"

She took one glance and said, "Hideous."

"Hey!" Naruto barked.

Yuri ignored him and asked, "What is your professional opinion? I am well aware that it is hard on the eyes."

She nodded and answered, "It is easily spotted by enemy shinobi and because of this it is a danger to him and any shinobi with him."

"Thank you," his sensei said and bowed slightly causing Tenten to blush slightly. He turned to Naruto, a smirk plastered on his face, and said, "So she says."

He looked between the two a few times hoping for his brain to think of something in defense of his color but nothing arose. He sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Fine. I'll get new clothing."

Yuri placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed slightly. He then walked over to the rightmost wall. Displayed on the wall was foot-wear for shinobi and his sensei immediately looked at the combat boot section.

Naruto took and interest and grabbed a pair. If he had put them on they would have completely covered his foot, unlike his sandals that allow his toes to stick out. They were black and a steel plate circled the side.

Yuri glanced at them and said, "No. The steel band would reflect sunlight and could possibly give away your position."

"Ah," Tenten said from behind them. "Our steel is treated with an anti-reflection coating so you don't have to worry about that."

"True, but if that coating gets scratched then the steel underneath will reflect," his sensei countered.

The girl grinned and said, "You really know your stuff."

Yuri bowed slightly and thanked her for her complement. He picked up a boot and handed it to Naruto. "That boot has ceramic plates positioned throughout a double layer of black leather. Ceramic isn't as strong nor as durable as steel plating but you won't have to worry about a reflection giving you away."

Naruto took it, gave it a once over, and handed it to Tenten. "Could you hold this up front for me, Tenten-san. I'm afraid there will be more where that came from."

She accepted the boot and he watched her walk away. He looked back at the boots and found that his black-haired orange hating sensei had vanished. He looked around and found the man pulling a few black shinobi pants off a rack.

"These should be your size," he said when Naruto approached him.

He took the pants and confirmed that they were.

"Try them on after we get the rest of your clothing. No sense in walking back and forth when you can just put it all on in one go."

Naruto couldn't agree more. They moved to the shirt section and the orange hater started looking through them. Naruto stepped around him and looked at some trench coats. He could envision himself wearing one of them and the mental picture he created made him excited at the cool sight that he would make.

"No."

Naruto growled and said, "What do you mean no? Trench coats are cool." Yuri looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Naruto explained, "They hide what you look like underneath so that you can have some kind of surprise stashed and ready to go and they also have a lot of pockets to keep useful supplies in."

"They also trail behind you and blow in the wind. If the free flying fabric were to catch a branch when you were fleeing an enemy then that would be the end of you," Yuri said. "No trench coats."

Naruto folded his arms and muttered, "You're no fun."

"It's not about being fun, Uzumaki-san. It's about keeping you alive."

He sighed. He knew that Yuri was just looking out for him but he could at least let him have some choice in what he would wear.

"This," his sensei said, "will do nicely."

Naruto looked at what his sensei held and saw that it was a dark red leather jerkin with no sleeves. He took it when it was offered to him and was surprised with how heavy it was.

"Two layers of leather with thin steel plates secured between them," Yuri explain. "And...it will look cool with the other clothing that I have selected."

Naruto looked up at the man and saw that he was smiling. His heart beat faster and a new hope surged forward. "You really think it will look cool?"

"Go and see for yourself."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice and he hurried to the changing room. He exited it quickly to grab the rest of his cloths form the counter as he had forgotten about them in his excitement. He all but tore off his jumpsuit and pulled on his new cloths. He looked at himself in the mirror: his jerkin was tight against his skin and his black pants flowed down to where they tucked into his combat boots. There wasn't as much color as he was wanting but he felt that the results was far cooler than anything he had thought up.

He stepped out of the changing room and he heard Tenten say, "Wow. That looks really good on you."

He blushed at the compliment, something he only rarely got especially in regards to his looks, and scratched the back of his head. "R-really?"

"It does," his black-haired sensei agreed. "You'll need three pairs of pants and jerkins and the one pair of boots. Also," he handed something to Naruto, "put that on. It will take time to get used to it but I think you'll like it."

Naruto took the item and looked at it. To his interest it was a kunai pouch but it wasn't like the typical ones he had seen before. It was more slender and longer than the pouches he was used to. He moved to put in around his right leg but stopped when he noticed that there were no cords to tie it to his leg.

"It goes on the small of your back, Uzumaki-san," his sensei answered his confusion. "Place it there and then push a small amount of chakra into it and it will stick like it is part of the jerkin. It will only release after you secure it if you perform the single hand seal for kai, put the hand into to the pouch, and then pulse a small amount of chakra."

Naruto nodded and put it on the small of his back. He pushed some chakra into it and gave it an experimental tug. It didn't budge.

"Looks good," Tenten said. "Will that be all?"

"I believe so, yes," Yuri said.

Naruto approached the counter and asked the question he had been dreading. "How much?"

Tenten smiled as she took each item that was laid out on the counter and pointed at the ones the he wore. She said, "Well, everything here is part of our thirty percent sale we have going on with the only exception being your kunai pouch. Not including the pouch, it comes to, 2380 yen."

Naruto nodded. It was a lot but far less than he had been expecting. He was surprised to hear that there was a sale going on as there were no signs indicating such. He shrugged and chalked it up to his good fortune. "And how much with the kunai pouch?"

"Already paid for," she answered.

Naruto looked at his sensei who said, "A gift."

He grinned and paid his bill. Tenten waved to them as they left the store and Naruto created a clone to take his bags of clothing back to his apartment.

"Remember where this store is, Uzumaki-san," Yuri told him as they walked down the street toward their training ground. "As you grow your clothing will need to be tailored to fit you and they can do that for you. Don't worry about the cost as I've already covered that. Another gift."

Opening his mouth to say something, Naruto felt his stomach growl and he grinned. "Let's get something to eat before training!"

**-A Testament to Things that Never Will-**

Yuri watched Naruto as the boy went through his exercises. He had to admit that he had more fun training Naruto than he had thought he would and he felt a large amount of pride at the progress the Genin had made over the two week period.

Naruto's chakra control was moving along wonderfully and Yuri had his clone assisting Naruto's with the tree climbing exercise. It was a simple thing for normal Genin but with Naruto's enormous amount of chakra it was a slow moving task. It still boggled Yuri's mind that the exercise wasn't taught in the Academy but Kami forbid the Academy adequately prepare a shinobi for the real world.

His thoughts about the Academy weren't kind and he felt bad about how he felt since Iruka-sensei had done so much for him. The man taught what he thought was vital for shinobi life but was somewhat naive at the amount and quality of training that Genin received from their Jonin-sensei. Most Jonin-sensei had never taught before and had no idea what they were doing. Yuri had done his fair share of training when the war had killed off many of the stronger Jonin and left them with an overabundance of Genin. He was a strict sensei but each of his students grew stronger under his training. He didn't really do anything special besides making the kids do what he did when he trained.

Moving his thoughts back to Naruto, he thought about how he had worked with him on getting his muscle memory for his kunai and shuriken adjusted for the new pouch. It had taken a while but with ten clones constantly trying to hit his fleeing and ambushing clone it had eventually become second nature to the boy. As a side note, his accuracy, rate of throwing, and the speed of his projectiles had benefited from the training and was now above par with regular Genin. He had also become much more aware and cautious of his surroundings due to his clone ambushing the kage bunshin.

His knowledge base was moving along at a steady pace and he was actually surprised at how fast Naruto was pick somethings up. He was still slightly below average in the history but with a little over a week before team selections he was confident that Naruto would know everything that he needed to know. His knowledge of chakra had grown as well and Yuri found that he couldn't wait to teach the boy how to manipulate chakra in ways that were only thought possible in dreams and folk tales.

As far as he was concerned, Naruto was hands down the best of his class at taijutsu now. He had seven katas of the Tetsu Sheru down pat and four of the Odayakana Kaze. He had a long ways to go before he had them mastered but both styles were far superior to the Academy style and the Gentle Fist and Uchiha Interceptor Style were marginally comparable at best. If Naruto didn't win every taijutsu spar he ever takes part in when he is placed on a team Yuri would find the boy and beat him bloody for the principle of it.

Above all else though, was the remarkable change in character the boy had undergone. Gone was the loud, over impulsive brat and in his place was a calm and patient boy who smiled and laughed more truly than he ever had before in his life. The change was interesting and most likely caused by the many talks that the two had. They spoke of what it meant to be a shinobi and about Naruto's life in general. They spent many hours just talking and Yuri knew just how much that meant to the boy because it would have meant plenty to him when he was a child.

"Naruto," he called to the boy who had just finished a final pull up on a tree branch.

Naruto dropped to the ground with a grace that only a Hyuuga would have been able to copy and walked over to him. He had grown in the two weeks and was now at a good five feet even. It was amazing what an accelerated healing ability would do for the body.

"You needed something, Yuri-sensei?"

"I think it's time I taught you a few jutsu," Yuri said.

Naruto's eyes sparked and the boy jumped into the air, pumping his fist, and whooping like a madman. Did he say calm and patient? Well, he was far more so than before and kids will be kids, Yuri supposed.

He chuckled and said, "Calm down, calm down. The jutsu are nothing truly special but they are definitely powerful in their own right. Do you think you can handle it?"

Naruto smirked, something the boy no doubt picked up from Yuri as the smirk held a confidence that Yuri had been well-known for when he was in his late teens. "Sure am."

Yuri shook his head, a smile gracing his lips. "Alright then. There are two very similar ones that I want to teach you. The first is called the, Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and the second is called the, Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. They are pretty much the same thing but their uses are completely different. Each of them creates a mass of the associated weapon and are best used in such a way that the weapons are already flying at a fast pace when created. The first is better for diversionary tactics while the second is better if you actually want to hit the enemy as kunai fly faster than shuriken."

He showed the hand signs to Naruto and demonstrated one of them on a tree. He flashed through the hand signs and called out, "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Tens of kunai appeared in the air in front of him and shot toward the poor tree he had picked as his target. The kunai lodged into the tree with loud thunks and when all the kunai had hit the entire trunk of the tree was just a mess of kunai.

Yuri walked over to the tree and said, "The kunai created with this jutsu are only kage bunshin but are slightly different. Instead of dispelling if they are hit they dispel if they hit a concentration of foreign chakra. This could be a jutsu, a genjutsu, or just a simple chakra pulse. Keep this in mind when you use this jutsu."

Naruto nodded and created ten clones that immediately began working on the jutsu.

Yuri tilted his head and asked, "How do you know that Kage Bunshin can help you learn a jutsu?"

"It makes sense if you think about it," Naruto responded. "Jutsu are just the unique manipulation of chakra and that is done by the mind."

Yuri smirked. "So, your thick head really has been learning something. For a second there it was just empty gas between your ears."

Naruto barked off a quick laugh and went back to his physical exercises.

Yuri shook his head and went back to reading the scroll he had on the theoretical ability of changing matter into pure chakra.

**-A Testament to Things that Never Will-**

Naruto stepped into the Academy with a flutter of excitement in his chest. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was excited, he couldn't deny it. It had been a month since he had seen Iruka and he couldn't wait to see the look on the man's face when he sees just how much Naruto had changed.

So much had changed for him in the month since the graduation exam. He had become stronger but Yuri was always quick to put him into his place. He was now above average for a Genin but if he were to have a fight with Sasuke, who had graduated at the top of the class, it would be close but Yuri was confident that he would come out the winner.

He had worked hard but he was already further behind everyone to begin with so it was actually mind boggling that he had advanced as far as he had in such a short amount of time. He was smarter, stronger, and more mature than the Naruto of the past and he was happier to. He had calmed down and had finally managed to reel-in his temper that had gotten him into so much trouble in the past.

He walked down the hall and into his old classroom. His eyes glided over the familiar desks, blackboard, and open area in the front of the class where students practiced the academy-three jutsu. Memories, both good and bad, flooded back to him and he took a deep breath. For once in his life he was actually completely happy to be in the room.

He was early and didn't expect any other students to arrive for another half-hour or so. He wanted to talk to Iruka-sensei and since he knew the busy-body always came into the classroom early he figured the best way to find him would be to just come early as well.

He heard the door slide open behind him and he had to consciously stop his hand from pulling a kunai from his pouch out of reflex.

"Excuse me," Iruka's well known voice said, "but this room is reserved for Genin team selections. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Now, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said as he turned toward the man, "do you really want me to leave?"

The brown-haired scared man studied him and a look of surprise and pride emerged on his face. "Naruto-kun?" he asked slowly. "Is that really you?"

"It's been a long time," Naruto said with smirk. "How have you been?"

Iruka stared at him and a huge smile worked its way onto his face. He whooped loudly and rushed over to Naruto and they embraced in a strong hug. Iruka released him and took a step back, his mouth opening and closing. He put a hand on his head and his face evolved into a look a sheer amazement.

"Naruto-kun," he said and looked him up and down, "what happened to you? W-where's the orange and...have you grown?"

Naruto laughed and Iruka-sensei joined him. "I'm fine Iruka-sensei. After Hokage-jiji made me a Genin I started to take my training as a shinobi seriously but it wasn't until I met Yuri-sensei that I really started to make some progress."

"Yuri-sensei?" Iruka asked and Naruto found the man's mixture of confusion and joy humourous.

"A Jonin I met at the training field I was using," he answered. "I ran my mouth and he decided to train me. One month later and here I am."

Iruka-sensei just looked at him. "Kami, Naruto-kun, you look good. You look so...so...so happy. So mature. So confident."

Naruto smirked. "Its been a long month."

The two talked, with Iruka asking dozens of questions and Naruto patiently answering each one, a happy smile on his face. They talked until the door slid open and Naruto saw one of the students from his class come in.

Iruka-sensei saw him too, glanced at the clock that was above the door, and said, "It's that time already. I'm sorry, Naruto, but can we-"

"We'll talk over ramen tonight at Ichiraku. Say nine o'clock?" Naruto said.

Iruka-sensei nodded. "Works for me, see you then, Naruto-kun."

Naruto waved at Iruka and turned to the desks. He walked to one that was in the back corner, pulled out one of the many books that Yuri had him reading, and flipped to the page he was on.

As he read, more and more people can into the classroom and Naruto took the effort of memorizing who it was, which door they entered from, and where they sat all while he read his book. His awareness and ability to split his concentration was well practiced due to Tetsu Sheru, his ambush training, and the meditation that he actually started to find enjoyable.

More and more people entered the classroom and with each increase in people Naruto felt the pull to bring attention to himself. Yuri had been drilling into his head that shinobi don't bring any unnecessary attention to themselves and he fought off the urge to do so. It seemed that old habits died hard and he concentrated on his book to avoid doing something he'd regret.

His concentration on his book was broken, however, when he heard the loud stomps of footsteps coming from the hall door.

With a loud crack, the door was ripped open and a loud scream of, "I win, Ino-pig!" screeched through the classroom.

Naruto winced when he heard the voice but was happy to find that he felt no longing for the person that created it. He glance up to see Sakura Haruno, his old crush, and Ino Yamanaka come barging into the room.

"Did not, Forehead!" the blonde-haired Ino yelled back.

He mentally groaned when the two started to fight over who would get to sit in the seat next to Sasuke Uchiha but in the end they were silence by Iruka who came into the room and bellowed, "SHUT UP, BRATS!"

The room went deathly quiet and Iruka nodded to himself, a job well done. "Alright, everyone," he said. "Today is the day that you all are assigned your teams and you meet your Jonin-sensei. Today it the true beginning of you shinobi careers and I have high hopes for each one of you. Now, without any further hold up. Team one consists of..."

Naruto listened intently to Iruka-sensei as the man assigned Genin to teams. This was a pivotal point in a shinobi's life because it paired people up with others who would be watching their backs for the next half-year at the very least. The people that created a team or squad would be spending every day together training, doing missions, and entrusting their lives to one another.

He made a silent vow to help and protect the other two Genin that he would share a team with and his ears twitched when he heard Iruka-sensei call off the seventh team.

"Team seven will consist of: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno-" Iruka paused as he was interrupted by the pinkette cheering loudly. When she finished and sat back down he continued, "Ahem. And the final member of team seven will be Naruto Uzumaki. You-"

"WHAT!?" Sakura roared. "Iruka-sensei, Naruto-baka didn't pass the graduation exam, how can he be a part of my team?"

Iruka-sensei scowled, clearly irritated at being interrupted yet again, and answered, "He was promoted to the rank of Genin soon after the exam. Is there anything else, Haruno-san?"

"If he did graduate then where is he?" she asked.

Iruka-sensei pointed to the corner that Naruto was in and when Sakura, and everyone else in the classroom, looked he gave a small wave. The entire classroom of Genin went silent and several of them had gob-smacked faces. Apparently they were surprised to see him and he was sure that the lack of the glorious color orange was an even bigger shocker.

Iruka-sensei cleared his throat and said, "The Jonin-sensei of team seven is Kakashi Hatake. Moving on..."

Iruka-sensei finished the rest of the teams, instructed the Genin that the Jonin-sensei would pick them up in the classroom, and vanished with the use of the Shunshin Jutsu.

Naruto tried to return to his book but when he felt the eyes of the others around him he sighed, put it away, and said, "If any of your question have anything to do about how I graduated, I'm afraid that I won't be answering them."

Kiba bounded over to him and said, "Damn, man. What happened to you over the past month? You look so different."

"Stuff," Naruto answered with a smirk on his face. "And things."

He avoided the rest of the questions that came at him and managed to get back to his book before the Jonin-sensei arrived. He took note of who the specific sensei were and what they looked like just in case he ran into them at a later date. Eventually the room was left empty except for Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

Time went by but Naruto didn't mind as he got to read more of his book and after what was about three hours the door slide open. The blonde took no small amount of pride in the fact that he didn't react at all to the man where his older self would have-

Sakura jumped up and yelled, "You're late!"

-done something like that. His older self would have definitely had done that but all he did was mark his place and store it in his kunai pouch.

The man who walked in had silver-hair, a mask covering the lower part of his face, and a hitai-ate covering his left eye. His clothing was that of a standard Konoha Jonin and the man had a lazy posture that screamed that he didn't want to be where he was.

The man looked up at all of them, looking noticeably longer at Naruto, and said, "Meet me on the roof." He vanished.

Naruto watched the other two scramble to get to the roof as fast as they could but he took his time. He walked slowly and deliberately to the stairs outside that lead to the roof. By the time he made it to his Jonin-sensei about four minutes had passed and Sakura shot him a mean glare.

"Any reason you held us up, Genin?" Kakashi said.

"Mind telling me the same thing, Hatake-san," Naruto countered as he leaned against the railing on the edge of the roof away from the other two Genin. He didn't not like the other two but that didn't mean that he liked them either so he kept his distance until he made up his mind about them.

Kakashi stared at him for a second and finally said, "Introduce yourselves. I would like your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals."

Sakura raised her hand and asked, "Could you go first, to show us how?"

Kakashi nodded and said, "You already know my name. As for my likes...and my dislikes...well, I do have hobbies. You next." He pointed at the pinkette.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," she said. "I like Sasuke, I don't like Naruto-baka, my hobby is," she giggled. "My goal is to marry Sasuke."

Kakashi pointed at Sasuke who said, "Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like much nor do I dislike much. I train. My goal, no, my destiny is to kill a certain man."

Kakashi nodded slowly and pointed at Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he said. "I like ramen and training with Yuri-sensei which also happens to be my hobby. I don't like people who don't take being a shinobi seriously and my goal..." he stopped. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what his goal was any more. It had always been to become Hokage but in the past month he had come to realize that the only reason he actually wanted that position was because of the attention that it would have brought him. He frowned and said, "I'm not sure, honestly. For now, I guess my goals are to become a respectable shinobi and protect Konoha. I apologize if that seems unoriginal to you, Hatake-san."

Kakashi stared at him for a fraction of a second longer than was needed. "Interesting," he said. "Alright, meet me tomorrow, around eight, at training ground seven for your Genin test. If you fail the test you will all be sent back to the Academy so do try your hardest. Oh, and I recommend not eating. Wouldn't want to throw up during the test."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Kakashi Hatake, the Shinobi of a Thousand Jutsu, entered the Hokage's office with more on his mind than he wanted. He had read over the reports that the Academy sesnei, Iruka Umino, had prepared for each of the new Genin and all but one had been spot on from what he could tell. The one that was off was the one that detailed Naruto Uzumaki.

The report had said that the Genin was the dead last of the class with the lowest points in all the academic fields, that he had a particular hate for reading, that he was impatient and temperamental, and it even made notable mention of one disturbingly ugly orange jumpsuit. That was what the report said but when he had walked into that room the boy was reading a book, didn't yell at him but calmly marked his place and waited for instructions, and there was no orange jumpsuit. He had to admit, he was a touch disappointed as he wanted to see what the thing looked like if it got the attention of the Academy sensei.

He looked up from his Icha Icha that he hadn't been reading to see the old Hokage standing behind his desk. The man may have been old but his strength was still legendary and recently the man had been getting a but more color in his wrinkled skin. There were rumors that he had found someone that was good enough to spar against but if a shinobi of that caliber was in the village he would have at least heard of them. It wasn't that he, Kakashi, couldn't spar with the old Hokage and give him a workout but he just didn't have the time what with all his Icha Icha and other things he did. Yeah, other things.

"Shinobi usually knock before they enter my office, Kakashi-san," the old Sarutobi said.

His back was to Kakashi and he appeared to be looking out over the village.

"Mah mah," Kakashi said and waved his hand to defuse any tension that his rashness might have caused. He didn't usually just barge in like he had but he had been so engrossed with his thoughts that he had forgotten to knock.

"You have something that you wish to talk about?" Hiruzen asked as he turned around.

Kakashi nodded. "Hai. It's about the report on Naruto Uzumaki."

The old man's wrinkled face smiled and he sat down in his chair. He waved to the chair next to Kakashi and said, "I suspected that I might see you because of that. Now, ask your questions and I will do my best to answer."

Kakashi bowed slightly, put his book away, and sat down in the offered chair. He thought about what his first question would be and decided to start with a general one. "Just what happened over the past month to change Naruto so much?" he asked. "He is nothing like what the Academy report paints him to be."

"That is more of a blanket question than an actual concern," Hiruzen scolded with a smile on his face, "but I think I can manage an answer. I'm sure you're aware of the circumstances surrounding Naruto's promotion?"

"It was in the report."

"Well, that acted as a sort of wake up call for our Naruto-kun," the old man explained. "He saw just how serious the shinobi life can be and started to train with a vengeance the very next day."

"Even if he trained for a year, there is no way a Genin could change that much. They lack the experience needed for quality training," Kakashi countered the Hokage's statement.

"That is correct," Hiruzen agreed, "but Naruto-kun wasn't training alone. About a week into his training he ran into a Jonin by the name of Yuri Karasu. The man took an interest in our blonde Genin and instructed him in his training. The change that you speak of Kakashi isn't as much caused by the training as it is caused by Naruto finally finding someone who gives him the attention he so craves. Now that he no longer has the need to act out for someone to notice him he has calmed down dramatically but I think you'll find that there is still a bit of the old Naruto in there. His joy, his infectious smiles, and his undying determination are only a few of the many things that have stayed true for our young Genin."

Kakashi rubbed his chin. That really did explain a lot but it also summoned more questions to the forefront of his mind. What had Naruto been trained in, how would this new Naruto mix with his other two teammates, just how strong was he, and who was this Yuri Karasu? He had never heard of the man before but that wasn't surprising as he lived in Konoha, the biggest shinobi village in the Land of Fire.

"If I wanted to meet this, Yuri Karasu, where might I look for him?" he asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Hiruzen responded. "The man has been on medical leave for about a month now and finished his finally check-up just yesterday. You could always ask Naruto to introduce you, but tell you what, when I see him I'll tell him that you would like to speak with him about Naruto-kun, will that work?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the masked Jonin said. "That will work just fine."

* * *

Until next time...

-Unbiased Abyss


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"You have until noon," Kakashi said as he eyed the potential Genin. "Go."

He watched, slightly disappointed, as the three kids vanished into the surrounding forest. He had been hoping that they would have worked together at the beginning and he was shocked at the level of naivety they demonstrated in their attempts to hide from him. He was a Jonin and it was insulting to think that they, fresh Genin, had even the smallest hope that they could hide from him.

He had been an ANBU Captain, for Kami's sake, and the only reason he was even the potential Jonin-sensei of this squad was because of the Uchiha. Apparently, the Shinobi Council thought it would be prudent if he, supposedly the only one left in the village that knew how to use the Sharingan, taught Sasuke how to use his family's eyes. Kakashi, knowing a thing or two about the Uchiha clan, knew that they taught their kids how to use it starting at the age of four. This meant that Sasuke already knew how to use the eyes he just hadn't unlocked them yet.

Kakashi shook his head at the unintentional stupidity of the Shinobi Council. He knew they meant well but what made them think that the Uchiha had done things differently than any other clan out there?

He rubbed his head. Enough thinking about why he was there, sufficent time had passed for the Genin to start feeling like they had hid from him. He had done this little test before but that was with teams that Hokage-sama had told him weren't ready for the shinobi life. He was supposed to fail them and he had started to become known for failing teams because of it. He didn't mind as it would make for a good laugh when he finally did pass a team.

He jumped into the trees, following Sakrua's obvious trail. Ladies first, he figured. Kami, he was such a gentleman. He found the girl under a bush, staring out into the clearing. She was muttering to herself and Kakashi had to question the quality of shinobi the Academy was producing if this is what they deemed as the top kunoichi.

Deciding to have fun with her he flared his chakra slightly and cast a genjutsu on her. He watched, a giddy smile on his masked face, as Sakura heard something coming from behind her and when she looked she was presented with Kakashi's masterpiece. He had taken advantage of the girl's obsession with Sasuke and showed her an image of the boy, covered in terrible wounds and even a few kunai still lodged in his flesh, stumbling toward her.

"Sakura," the pseudo-Sasuke stammered. He clenched his teeth in pain and dropped to the forest floor.

"Sasuke!" the pinkette screeched as she rose and took a shaky step toward the boy.

The boy coughed, blood staining the grass, and said, "Where were you? I called for you, but you didn't come."

Tears streamed down Sakura's face and she wrapped her arms around herself. "I-I didn't hear you."

"This is your fault. You should-" he coughed. "You should...have...co-" The pseudo-Sasuke collapsed fully to the ground and Sakura screamed.

Kakashi jumped down behind her and knocked her unconscious. He looked at his handy work as it slowly faded away and a thought crossed his mind. Maybe he went a little too far? He thought about it. Naww, he had done just enough.

With a happy smile on his face he left Sakura where she lay and went to search for one of the boys. He found Sasuke in a tree and had been seriously tempted to sneak up behind him and wait to see how long it took the boy to notice he was there. He had, instead, walked into the small open area behind the boy and allowed himself to be ambushed.

The Uchiha was good, Kakashi had to give him that. His taijutsu was spot on and he even threw out a mid C-rank ninjutsu which surprised the hell out of him. Most Genin knew only E-ranks and the clan jutsu that some of them might have known were only D or very low C-rank. The reason for this was simple, most Genin didn't yet have enough chakra for the more demanding stuff. So, color him impressed when the Uchiha shot a fireball at him.

He had played around with the boy for a little and even let him touch one of the bells that the Genin were after. If he had peged the boy right then if he was asked to work together with someone he would tell them that he had almost gotten a bell and didn't need their help.

Genin. So predictable. So easily manipulated.

He left the black-haired boy buried up to his neck in the ground and went after the last of his Genin hopefuls. He found the trail easily enough but stopped in his search when it split off into three different directions. He knew that Naruto had the ability to use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu but he hadn't expected the kid to be smart enough to use them to help hide his trail. He cursed the useless Academy report and busied himself with studying the trails.

It was a simple thing to figure out which one was the right path based on where the boy had jumped and where the landing pattern matched the direction of flight. The other two were all wrong as he would have had to jump and turn in the air if he wanted to land the way the snapped twigs, folded leaves, and small cracks of bark told him the boy landed.

His ears strained when he heard what sounded like metal on metal and he immediately knew what Naruto had done. Sure, he had made these three paths but each one undoubtedly ran around in a circle back to this origin. It was an ambush and a very well thought out one at that. Why, if Kakashi had been any typical Genin he might have fallen for it but the boy, while impressive, had much to learn.

He threw a kunai into the leaves of a branch above him and far to his right. There was a popping sound and white smoke drifted out from between the green leaves. Suddenly his senses started to scream at him and he spun around in time to see kunai and shuriken flying at him. He would have been fine if it was only a few but the amount that was flying at him blocked out sight of the trees beyond them.

His mind raced and he concluded that they had to be products of both the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The jutsus were difficult to learn and were incredibly chakra intensive but with how easily he heard Naruto created clones it didn't surprise him in the least that the boy knew these two jutsu and could spam them as he wished.

Kakashi shot off a pulse of chakra and watched as the weapons popped when they were hit by the invisible force. His eyes narrowed, however, when three didn't disappear and he casually snatched each one out of the air. Naruto had planned on him dispelling the jutsu created weapons and sent a few real ones in the wave in an attempt to catch him off guard.

Kakashi sent the weapons back the way they came and said, "That was good ninjutsu, Naruto, but how about we move on to taijutsu." He twisted and brought a roundhouse kick to bear against the Naruto that had tried to sneak up behind him. To his mild shock, the boy rose his left arm and blocked the heavy kick with his forearm. This had to be the real one as the kick had been so hard that he heard bone crack in the raised arm.

Kakashi thought about ending the fight there. He hadn't meant to kick that hard but reflexes trained to react to people sneaking up on him had taken control. True, it wasn't his full strength as that would have smashed the blonde Genin off the tree and into the ground but he had put a little more oomph into it that he had wanted.

His thoughts of ending it were stopped, however, when Naruto's right hand shot out and almost connected with his belly. Kakashi caught it easily and wrapped it around to the blonde's back and pulled up on it. Just as he was about to say something witty he was forced to release Naruto when one of the boy's clones attacked him from above. He jabbed it in the stomach, causing it to pop, and blocked another attack from the real Naruto.

They were locked in a taijutsu match that impressed Kakashi more than he cared to admit to anyone. Naruto's taijutsu wasn't the Academy style he had been expecting but another style that was far more ferrous and efficient. When Naruto moved in on the offensive his strikes and kicks were fast and calculated. Each one was made with the intention of creating an opening and, when Kakashi deliberately allowed some to form, the blonde was quick to attack it.

On the defensive, his style was completely different. He knocked aside Kakashi's attacks the second they got close to him with an efficiency that made Kakashi think that there was a shell around the blonde that protected him. Kakashi had even broken from the fight and ambushed the blonde but, to his utter amazement, the blonde had reach behind his back and caught the attack. He swung around with the back of his other fist and Kakashi caught it in his free hand.

"Very good," Kakashi praised Naruto. The two were locked and he could feel the blonde Genin trying to overpower him.

Kakashi, not to be outdone, relaxed the grip he had on his abilities and threw the boy off the tree and into the clearing they had started this test in. He blocked the few kunai that Naruto hurled at him in his flight and the silver-haired Jonin followed.

He landed in the clearing to see four Naruto's waiting for him but before anything else could happen the alarm went off signalling the end of the test. Kakashi shot the clock an unseen glare. He had begun to enjoy the fight with Naruto as the boy was far more skilled than he would have ever guessed.

Three of the Narutos disappeared in a cloud of white smoke and he saw Naruto grip his left arm. "How does it feel?" he asked. He felt slightly bad about what he had done but was impressed that the boy had sucked up the pain and continued the fight.

Naruto looked at him, a fire in his eyes that told Kakashi he had enjoyed the fight as well, and said, "Hurts but should be good as new in about an hour or two. I know I didn't get a bell but how did I do?"

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and eye-smiled, "You did very well. Better than I thought you would at least."

The blonde accepted the compliment and the two walked over to the three training poles that stood at the south end of the training field. Kakashi tied the pinkette to the middle pole and said, "You fail."

He savored the look on the three Genin's faces. Sakura seemed aghast, Sasuke sent him a glare that could kill, and Naruto...Naruto seemed slightly sad but still had a small smile on his face. "Something on your mind, Naruto?"

The blonde broke into a sheepish smile and said, "Oh, um. Yeah, I'm sad that we failed but I'm happy that you said I did well. You made the rules perfectly clear and none of us have a bell so you are well within your right to fail us. Do I like it? No, but it isn't like I should be surprised or anything."

Kakashi nodded. Damn blonde was far more mature than the report said as well. He made a note to burn the useless document and said, "Well, I'm feeling extra nice today so I'll give you all one last chance." He took out two bento's from his pouch and handed them to the two boys. "You may eat before we start again but under no circumstances are you to allow Sakura to eat even a bite. If she does get a bite you will all fail."

He walked off and stopped when he was hidden behind a large bush.

"This isn't fair," he heard Sakura yell. "Why am I the one tied up and the dead last isn't?"

"I'm not sure," Naruto said, "but we need to think of a way to get one of those bells."

"As I told you before," Sasuke said this time, "I touched one. I don't need your help."

"But Genin are supposed to help each other, especially their own teammates," Naruto said.

"Yeah, Naruto-baka," Sakura said. "We don't need your help. What would you, the dead last of the Academy, be able to do to help us?"

In an answer to Sakura's question a grumbling sound came from the Genin and Kakashi heard Naruto say, "The least I can do is feed you."

"You can't!" she said loudly. "We'll fail if you do, baka."

"Sasuke," Naruto said, "watch out for Hatake-san and give me a signal if you see him." Kakashi got the feeling that the Uchiha gave the blonde a questioning look because Naruto continued, "Think about it. If Kakashi has to deal with another Genin he may tire and that will give you the chance to get one of the bells. If Sakura gets food she will be more active than if she doesn't."

"Hn," Kakashi heard the Uchiha grunt.

He had to give it to Naruto, the boy was good at manipulation. He had managed to get Sasuke to be his lookout and even created a team plan for the next attempt without either of the two noticing. And, going off of what Sasuke said, Naruto had apparently tried to get at least Sasuke to work with him but Kakashi's own clever manipulation had made the Uchiha arrogant and refused the help. It would seem that Naruto had figured out the point of the test.

There was a short silence and then there was the sound of ropes being cut and he heard Sakura say soon after, "Oh Kami, that tastes good."

The Jonin smirked, dropped a smoke bomb, and when it exploded he rushed toward the Genin. He glared at them and released a tiny amount of killing intent. "You," he said darkly and the face of horror Sakura made almost made him start laughing then and there. "Pass," he finished with a happy eye-smile.

"Eh?" Sakura said, confused.

"You pass," he repeated.

"But you said that I couldn't eat anything," the pinkette said.

Kakashi nodded. "So I did but if I told you to, say, kill Naruto, would you?"

She glanced, fear in her eyes at the blonde and then back to him. "N-no."

"A shinobi who fails their duties is trash but a shinobi who fails their friends and comrades is worse than trash," Kakashi said. "Alone, none of you had a chance to get a bell, but working together you may have had a chance."

"This was about teamwork?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded. Sasuke had a grim look on his face but Naruto had a knowing smile. "That is all for today. We'll meet here at eight every day, do some training and then do a mission. Dismissed." Kakashi watched the Genin walk away and shook his head when Sakura attempted to get Sasuke to go get something to eat with her. "Naruto," he said and the blonde turned to him, "hold up for a second."

"What did you need, Kakashi-sensei?" the blonde asked.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and said, "It's Kakashi-sensei now? What happened to Hatake-san?"

"You hadn't confirmed that you would be training us until this moment so you weren't my sensei until now. Is it a problem? I can call you something else if you like?"

He waved his hand. "No no, Kakashi-sensei is fine. There was something I wanted to ask you though. Yesterday you said that you liked to train with a man you called, Yuri-sensei. Would you mind introducing us? As your Jonin-sensei, it would be helpful to know what he has taught you."

"I don't see a problem in that," Naruto said. "We meet at training ground thirty-eight and he should be there now."

Kakashi walked alongside the blonde and asked, "How do you know that?"

Naruto smirked. "Because I sent about forty clones there earlier today to train with Yuri-sensei. That's not a problem right? Yuri-sensei said it wouldn't be but if you didn't like it he also said you could talk to him about it."

Honestly, the silver-haired Jonin couldn't have cared less. Who was he to punish a Genin who was doing his all to get stronger. "I don't mind, Naruto, but I am surprised to hear that you know about the training trick that the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu provides."

"Oh, I didn't. Yuri-sensei showed it to me."

"Did he," Kakashi muttered. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was a dangerous jutsu and only those with an incredible amount of chakra could use it effectively. Naruto's reason for his ridiculously high amount of chakra was obvious but who was this Yuri that he had the chakra to use the jutsu?

Naruto explained what all he had learned from the man called Yuri and Kakashi was flabbergasted. The man had Naruto learning two very impressive taijutsus from the way Naruto described them, was actively working on Naruto's chakra control, was conditioning his ability to sense and respond to an ambush, and he was also teaching Naruto everything the boy had missed in the Academy and more. Most shinobi started learning about chakra and jutsu theory when they were Chunin as it was essential knowledge for when a shinobi started to create their own jutsu.

On top of all of that he had also taught Naruto two jutsu. It was simple to tell that the man was focusing on the basics but with the foundation that Kakashi could see in Naruto he knew that the man was preparing him for something great. Naruto also told him about the gravity seal and, while it wasn't unheard of, it was very rare since it required a shinobi with expert knowledge of fuuinjutsu. The only two in Konoha that Kakashi was aware of was Jiraiya and the Hokage.

Kakashi's curiosity burned inside him and when he and Naruto entered the training ground that the blonde had said the man was in he immediately started to look around. He found the object of his curiosity on the north side of the grounds. The man was a hair taller than Kakashi and had on black combat boots, black pants, and a slimmer than usually dark green flack jacket over a long sleeved crimson shirt. The man had black-hair that spiked slightly and when he looked at Kakashi he saw that the man had dark blue eyes.

"Uzumaki-san," the man said in a lower tenor, "are you done with your team meeting?"

"Hai!" Naruto called. The blonde pointed at Kakashi and said, "This is Kakashi-sensei. Kakashi-sensei, Yuri-sensei."

The black-haired man bowed slightly and said, "Nice to meet you..."

"Kakashi is fine," the Jonin said.

"Kakashi," Yuri said. "You may call me Yuri. I assume you have questions if you came here with Uzumaki-san."

"Hai," Kakashi said and he watched Naruto run off and start going through some physical exercises. "Naruto has told me what you've been teaching him and I must say that I'm impressed to say the least."

"That's not a question but I thank you," Yuri said. "Uzumaki-san is a hard-worker and an attentive pupil."

Kakashi looked at the man and asked, "How long have you been a Jonin?"

Yuri tilted his head as he thought and answered, "About ten years now, I would say. I was sixteen when I became Jonin and I've been away on several long term missions since then."

"I was wondering why I hadn't seen you before," he said. "I would have heard of another fuuinjutsu expert being in the village."

"My skills are modest at best," the black-haired man replied. "I dabble in it from time to time but nothing too serious. Tell me, why are you interested in learning about me?"

"There aren't many Jonin who would just train a Genin to pass the time," Kakashi said, "and based off how much Naruto has improved in such a short amount of time I would say that you have had some experience in training Genin before."

"Little to none, I'm afraid," Yuri replied. "I have entertained the idea but it just isn't for me. As for why I've taken an interest in training Uzumaki-san," he paused. "Let's just say that it was a passing curiosity that has developed into a fondness."

"What do you plan on teaching Naruto?"

"Not sure really. I've focused on his foundation and have provided him with a set of taijutsu styles that I felt fit his fighting style and unique abilities. I had planned on eventually moving to chakra and elemental manipulation exercises but that is a long ways off or at least until the boy gets better chakra control. To attempt teaching manipulation now would be stupid at best and dangerous at worst."

Kakashi glanced at the man and said, "Chakra theory, jutsu theory, chakra manipulation, and elemental manipulation. If I'm not mistaken is sounds like you're preparing Naruto to start creating his own jutsu."

Yuri nodded. "That is part of it but I have found that understanding how and why something works the way it does helps one learn it in practise."

"Makes sense," the silver-haired Jonin agreed. He turned and said, "That answers that." He began to leave when a thought hit him. "Would you want to come to our training session tomorrow?"

Yuri raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why would you want me to do that?"

"I'm new to this whole training thing and it would be nice to hear what you have to say about what my Genin need to work on."

The black-haired man frowned and said, "It's pretty standard stuff, Kakashi-san. Work on their physical abilities like strength, speed, reflexes, and the such, their mental abilities like tactics creation, environmental awareness, and killing intent tolerance, their chakra control, and, most of all, their friendships. If you can get them all to at least be civil with each other than the team dynamics will progress smoothly."

Kakashi nodded. He hadn't thought of several of the things that the man had mentioned or had taken them for granted. How many other Jonin thought of teaching Genin killing intent tolerance? He had never heard of it and it only solidified his thoughts that the man had taught a Genin squad sometime in the past. But then, why had he said he hadn't?

Interested in Yuri's thoughts on training Genin, he went back to the man's side, watched Naruto torture himself with physical exercises, and continued talking to the man. He felt himself relax for the first time in what seemed like an eternity and he had no idea why. The way Yuri talked to him made him feel like he had known the man for a long time and that they were old friends.

He found the feeling strange but also comforting. He had pushed most of his friends away after he lost his team and had poured himself into his ANBU work with a passion so that he could forget the pain of their passing. His curiosity of the man increased even more as he felt the fires of friendship start to form for the first time in years.

He must have spent at least two hours talking to Yuri. It had started with training tips for Genin and had eventually ended with them talking about what it meant to be a shinobi. Kakashi was happy to find out that Yuri held similar beliefs to Kakashi's own and he was interested when Yuri mentioned that he also felt that Genin should be taught to question orders that they disagreed with. He explained that having the leader of the squad, the Jonin-sensei, or even the Hokage explain an order could prevent any tension or mishaps that might otherwise happen. It would also get it out in the open if someone didn't like what was happening.

Kakashi glanced at the sun and said, "It's about time I head to Hokage-sama and tell him of my teams passing."

"It was nice to meet you, Kakashi-san," Yuri said. "I'll see you tomorrow at around eight."

"You might want to come at noon," the silver-haired Jonin commented and Yuri laughed as he nodded his head.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Hiruzen looked over the Jonin that filled his office. He had selected each of them to become Jonin-sensei but he could already tell from some of their faces that there were some that didn't pass their teams. He searched but didn't see Kakashi amongst them and decided to no waste everyone elses time. He had told the Jonin that the meeting was three hours ago but it had actually only started five minutes ago. He had hoped the deception would get the man to the meeting on time but it seemed that the man was being extra late this time.

He sighed and just as he was about to start the meeting the door opened. Kakashi walked in, Icha Icha in hand, and looked up at everyone in the room. "Am I late?"

"Right on time," Hiruzen said with a happy grin on his face. "Let's begin this meeting. Starting from team one and going in order, tell me if your team passed or not.

Hiruzen wasn't taken aback when the first six teams were failed. It was common practice to place the teams that were most likely to fail at lower numbers than ones that had the highest chance of succeeding.

Kakashi looked up from his book long enough to say, "Team seven. Passed."

That got several of the Jonin staring at him but the chronically late man didn't appear to notice. The next two teams, eight and ten, passed as well and Hiruzen frowned slightly when Asuma, his son, didn't even look at him when he said his team passed. There was some bad blood between him and Asume but that didn't mean that the man had to act like a child. They had a disagreement years ago and they hadn't been able to talk to each other since.

"Very good," he said and ignored the ache in his heart. "If there are no more questions, dismissed."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Yuri arrived at training ground seven at seven in the morning. Kakashi had been kind enough to let him know that he wouldn't be arriving until noon but that didn't mean that Yuri had to let the Genin waste time waiting for them.

He looked around the training field, memories filling his mind. It was exactly the same as he remembered it. The same three poles, the trees, and the sound of the river, it was all the same.

Yuri took a deep breath and let it out. He had come an hour early because he knew that Naruto would be getting to the field at about that time. He had informed Naruto of what was going on and the boy seemed happy at the chance of introducing him to his teammates. Of course, introductions weren't really needed but Naruto didn't know that. He knew Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno better than they probably knew themselves and he prepared himself for when he saw them. He had stalled when he had first seen Tenten, the memory of her death coming to mind, and he couldn't let it happen again.

He had managed to not pause when he first saw Kakashi but it had been only just so. Kakashi had been one of his best friends in his timeline and the loss of the man had been a pain that Yuri had never really recovered from. This Kakashi wasn't his Kakashi but it was nice to get the chance to befriend the man he had come to respect once again even if it wasn't his Kakashi. The silver-haired Jonin was a good man and Yuri was happy with getting to know this new Kakashi.

His mind turned to Sasuke and Sakura and he felt that it would be easier to ignore his memories of them than it was with Kakashi. Sakura had died early in the war and Sasuke...well Yuri had killed the man with his own two hands but this Sasuke was only a child while the one he knew had been a grown man. He focus on his memories of the two and after a period of time he was confident that he wouldn't hesitate when he saw them.

"Morning, Yuri-sensei!" he heard Naruto's now familiar morning greeting.

He turned to look at the boy and said, "Good morning, Uzumaki-san."

"What are we working on today?"

"For now," Yuri said, "We will be meditating until your other teammates arrive. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you my full attention today as I will be focusing on the other two Genin that I am unfamiliar with. Will that be a problem?"

"Nope," Naruto said cheerfully.

The old Naruto would have pouted and whined about such a thing happening and Yuri was happy to see that the boy had matured so much since he first met him.

Yuri smiled. "Oh, and before you ask. I will not be using kage bunshin to help train today. My reason for this is because I want each of the other Genin to feel like they have my full attention when I am evaluating their skills. Also, I will not be placing a gravity seal on them. I will be recommending weights but I will not be mentioning the seal nor do I want you mentioning it."

"Why?" Naruto asked. "Wouldn't the seal help them better than weights? I mean, you told me that yourself."

Yuri smiled. "I remember, Uzumaki-san. I won't be placing the seal on them because not only is it too time consuming but I also don't want it to get around that I'm a practitioner of fuuinjutsu. The only reason I was able to put your seal on you as fast as I did was because you and I have very similar chakra, chakra quantity, chakra quality, and chakra fluctuations among other things. I only had to do a few very minor changes to the seal and that still took me an about an hour to put on you.

"With these other two, whose chakra may be vastly different than mine, the amount of time it could take to adjust the seal could range from an entire twenty-four hours to a week of work and fine-tuning. I also don't want people coming to me and asking me to put one on them. I am not a charity and I don't feel like handing out gravity seals to everyone that asks for them. I know that my reasons are somewhat selfish but they are what they are."

Naruto nodded. "I can see why you feel the way you do," he said. "Alright, I won't mention it to them."

Yuri thanked Naruto as he sat down in the grass. There was still dew on it and he glided a hand across a portion next to him. It was cool on his skin and the grass that brushed against him tickled slightly. Naruto sat down as well and soon the two had slowed their breathing and focused on finding their center.

The biggest reason that Yuri had Naruto learning how to meditate was so that, when the day came, he could more easily communicate with Kurama, the Kyubi. He hadn't told the blonde that and he figured he never really could since he was a shinobi who had never held the beast in this timeline. It was a shame, as he and Kurama had formed a friendship of sorts. Well, as close to a friendship that a force of nature absent of any morals could with a human.

Eventually Yuri heard a feminine voice come from the bridge that lead to the training ground. The bridge was quite a ways off but he figured that the voice belonged to the Sakura of this timeline and if she was coming so too was Sasuke. He waited, listened, and after seven minutes the two Genin saw them.

"Who is that guy and what is Naruto-baka doing?" Sakura asked.

Yuri stood abruptly and turned on the two Genin. He didn't hesitate, much to his pleasure, and said, "Welcome. You two must be Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno?"

"Who are you?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"My name is Yuri Karasu," he answered. "Kakashi asked me to help with your training for the day and while he won't be getting here till noon I decided to come early to get a head start on things. This isn't a problem I hope, Haruno-san, Uchiha-san?"

Sakura blushed lightly, she had always been a bit of a sucker for older men, and stammered, "N-no problem."

Sasuke studied him for a second but nodded as his way of acceptance.

"Wait," the pinkette said suddenly as if she had just noticed something, "what were you and Naruto-baka doing before we got here?"

Yuri frowned and set disapproving eyes on the girl. "Haruno-san, while you are around me you will not insult Naruto in such a way. To insult someone is feeble, simple-minded, and unbecoming of a kunoichi. Uzumaki-san is your teammate and the least you can do is show him some respect."

Sakura's face paled at being scolded but she was quick to replied, "O-okay."

Yuri softened his expression and leaned down slightly so that he wasn't as imposing. "I apologize," he said. "I may have come off a bit harsh there but not showing the proper respect to another can get a person into many misunderstandings and unnecessary trouble. I hope you can forgive me for snapping at you but I do stand by my words."

Sakura blushed, nodded, swallowed, and said, "No it's alright."

"Thank you," he said and stood up. "As for what we were doing, we were meditating."

"Really?" the girl asked. "Naruto-b-" she shot a look at Yuri and went on when he didn't say anything, "can sit down for more than five seconds?"

Naruto smiled and laughed. "I thought you might say that, Sakura, but it's actually kind of calming when you get used to doing it. Maybe I can show you how some time?"

Sakura relaxed and said, "Sure. Hold on, you called me Sakura?"

"Over the past month I have been reevaluating my life," Naruto said.

"Reevaluating? Big word," the pinkette said and grinned.

The blonde smirked and said sarcastically, "Ha ha. As I was saying, I have been doing some thinking and I realized just how much I was doing just for the attention it brought me. A part of being a shinobi is to not bring attention to one's self unless it is necessary. After I got over that I found that, while I like you as a friend, I don't feel like I could ever go past that."

"Wow, Naruto. That was surprisingly well thought out."

Naruto grinned.

Yuri clapped his hands loudly to get all the Genin's attention and asked, "Are there any questions before we begin?"

Sasuke took a step forward and said, "You're the Yuri-sensei that Naruto mentioned earlier, aren't you?"

"I am," he confirmed. "That is why today's training will be more focused on you and Haruno-san. I have already discussed this with Uzumaki-san and he understands why this is."

The raven-haired boy nodded and stayed silent.

Yuri looked around and when it was clear that none of the other two Genin had questions he said, "Okay, I'll start with Haruno-san."

"Me?" Sakura asked and pointed to herself.

"Hai, please come over here." He walked a short ways into the training field and when Sakura got close he said, "I would like to have a quick spar, if you don't mind. I think that about three minutes of attacking and an equal time defending should answer any questions that I have."

"O-okay," she said and entered the Academy style starting position.

Yuri smirked and said lightly, "Have no fear, Haruno-san, I will not hurt you. You attack first and I will let you know when to go on the defensive. When you're ready."

Sakura hesitated before charging him. Yuri had never been that impressed with the Academy style taijutsu and his dislike for it was only reinforced with Sakura's weak taijutsu display. His Sakura had the strength of a giant and the temper to go with it but after seeing this Sakura interact with Naruto he knew that she wasn't his Sakura and it became easier for him to be around her.

He caught a kick and said, "Defensive."

He attacked and it became apparent to him that the girl's stamina was pathetically low as she started to slow and he had to stop his attacks just before he hit her and he would call out, "Hit," when he did it. Doing this apparently made the pinkette angry and she started to get some of her spunk back. He decided to test something and changed the word hit to names and insults. This only made the girl angrier and she screamed her frustration. She moved from defensive and attacked him.

He let her take control of the battle and soon it changed to her beating her fists against his chest as tears streamed down her face. He crouched and looked her in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Haruno-san, but I had to test your mental tenacity. What would happen if you were fighting an enemy shinobi and they started to call you names, made fun of you, or mocked you about killing a friend of yours?"

Sakura wiped at her tears and sniffed. "I-I..."

"Here is your first lesson," Yuri said. "Words are just that, words. They can't hurt you unless you allow them to. During a fight you must keep you head in the game and as such you must get a tighter control of your emotions and an understanding that your opponent will do anything to get an advantage over you. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings and if you wish to stop I would respect that."

The pinkette wiped on last tear from her face, cleared her throat, and said, "No, lets keep going."

Yuri smiled. "Good, I'm very proud of you, Haruno-san." The girl sent a beaming smile at him and her eyes light up a little. He continued, "From the spar there are a few things that I noticed that are in need of improvement. You stamina is, I apologize, pathetic, your strength it mediocre at best, and your speed could use some work. The good thing about these problems is that they can be fixed at the same time. Go to a store called, The Flying Dragon, and ask them for some training weights. Using these will increase your strength, stamina, and speed."

"I also saw that you are incredibly skinny." She blushed and he said seriously, "I have heard that girls your age sometimes go on diets and if you are on one you need to stop it immediately."

"What, why?" she asked.

"Because all you're doing is hurting yourself," he answered. "Kunoichi and shinobi burn a ton of calories while they train, do missions, and for the maintenance of chakra. By limiting your body's intake of food you are starving yourself and that is hurting you in all physical areas, is no doubt disrupting your sleep which is vital for anyone, and is affecting you mentally by making you irritable, impatient, and more susceptible to emotional manipulation."

She looked at him with a mix of shock and confusion on her face. "I didn't know any of that."

"That's fine, Haruno-san. I know that you want to stay skinny and good-looking but trust me when I tell you that your training will burn any extra calories that you intake. Now, I want you to promise me that you will stop this silly diet."

"I promise, Yuri-sensei," she said, a fire of determination in her eyes.

"Good. I saw that you use the Academy style but I think there is another that is more suited for you. It is called Tsuyoi Hachisu and is comprised of strong, heavy attacks that I think matches your personality and strengths the best. Ask Kakashi if he knows it or if he knows anyone who does. You will benefit greatly from this taijutsu so do put the effort into finding someone who can teach it and also work hard at it when you do."

She nodded and he plucked a blade of grass from the field. "Here," he said and handed the piece of grass to the pinkette. "Put that to your forehead and hold it there with your chakra. Do you know how to do that?"

She put it on her forehead and moved her hand away. The grass stuck and she said, "Like that?"

Yuri nodded. "Interesting. You have extraordinary chakra control. This comes about by the low amount of chakra and natural talent you possess. Given time, I suggest that you inquire about becoming a medic-nin as expert chakra control it needed and the amount of chakra isn't as big a concern than other positions that shinobi and kunoichi fill."

"So, as a summary, Harun-san," he said. "Get training weights from The Flying Dragon, get off your diet, ask Kakashi about learning the Tsuyoi Hachisu, and in the future ask about becoming a medic-nin. This is my advice to you."

She nodded and the two started back to the other Genin. She looked up at him and asked, "Do you think I have what it takes to be a good kunoichi?"

"No."

Her face plummeted.

"I think you have what it takes to be a great kunoichi," he said and when she looked up at him, shock on her face, he winked.

Sakura smiled happily and bounded over to the other Genin.

"What did you two talk about, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

The pinkette put a finger to her lips and said, "It's a secret."

"What? No fair," Naruto laughed

Yuri smiled as he watched the two talk. It did his heart good seeing the two getting along so well but his thoughts turned a bit sour when he remembered that he had to deal with Sasuke. The boy would be difficult because he was at a sensitive stage in his life.

He looked at the Uchiha and said, "You next." As they walked into the field he told him that they would be doing the exact same thing that he had just done with Sakura. They got into positions and Yuri said, "You may begin."

Sasuke was a completely different animal than the pinkette had been but Yuri was ready for him and the Uchiha Interceptor style. He was fast, flexible, and was far too rigid in his movements.

He grabbed the Uchiha's foot when the boy attempted a kick and said, "You're too tense. Relax."

The boy charged forward in his attacks and Yuri got the impression that Sasuke didn't hear him. "You need to relax," he called again.

"I am relaxed," the Genin said back a little more sternly than Yuri would have liked.

The Jonin frowned but let the issue drop. It would seem that the Uchiha would need to learn how to meditate. He had forgotten how stubborn and resistant to help Sasuke could be when he was younger but it was all coming back to him now. It was that resistance to admit that having others around him might make him stronger that lead him to leaving the village in the first place. Yuri considered what he could do to help convince the boy that he was stronger with friends, with a team, but he hadn't known the man that long in his timeline. Sure, there was the short time that they were Genin together but about a year out of his twenty-six wasn't anything to brag about.

Yuri thought about what he knew of the Uchiha clan. They had the Sharingan which was vastly over rated and only unlocked by having an intense emotional response to something; fear was a good way of doing it. Then, there were the other stages to the cursed eyes but Yuri would prevent the boy from unlocking those if he could as madness came shortly after.

He mentally growled and pushed the thoughts out of mind. He would talk to Kakashi about what they could do for the child, as for now all he could do was critique the boy in his flaws and help him fix said flaws any way he could.

"Defensive," Yuri called.

The Interceptor style of the Uchiha was a unique style in the sense that there weren't many other taijutsu styles out there that were based solely on predicting the opponents movements. The style required that the practitioner be observant and it used the micromovments of the opponent to predict what they would do. The Sharingan fit well with the style because it heightened the user's awareness and the user got the feeling that the world was slowing down around them. Or, at least that was how his Kakashi had described it. In combination with the Uchiha dojutsu, the Interceptor style was something to be respected but Naruto had been fighting against it for so long that he had learned all the tricks to beat it.

Sasuke was skilled, Yuri had to give the boy that, but he was arrogant in his skills and wasn't as good as he thought he was. He was too tense which caused his taijutsu to become clumsy and less flowing, he was impatient causing him to act to quickly and rashly, and his over-confidence could be seen in they way he held himself.

"That's enough," Yuri said.

The Uchiha came out of his stance, folded his arms, and waited for the Jonin's judgment. There was a slight smirk on his face and Yuri frowned.

"You're good," Yuri said and the smirk the boy had got a bit bigger, "for a fresh Genin I expect little from." The smirked vanished. "Your too rigid in your movements and you need to relax."

"I am-" Sasuke started to say.

Yuri cut him off. "No, you're not. The Uchiha interceptor style is supposed to be flowing, quick, and efficient but you use it like a civilian swings around a club. You're clumsy, slow to react, and jumpy when you shouldn't be." The boy glared and Yuri said sternly, "You also have an attitude that will get you into trouble one of these days. I've sparred against some Uchiha before the incident," Sasuke's face darkened, "and their taijutsu was less rigid than yours. You need to relax and meditation will help with that."

Sasuke nodded and turned to walk away.

"I'm not done," Yuri said and the boy stopped. "Your arrogant and that causes you to be over-confident of your skills. You're good but if you were to spar with Uzumaki-san you would lose."

That got the child's attention as he spun around quickly. His face was full of anger and shock.

"You need to cut the attitude and stop pushing others away. You don't want to feel the pain of loss again, I understand that," Yuri said. He would have said more but the reaction his words got from Sasuke stopped him.

The raven-haired Genin's face twisted with hate and anger. His eyes burned as they attempted to glare a hole through Yuri. "What do you understand of my loss? My pain?" he spat in a low voice.

Yuri glanced at the other two Genin but they were too far away to hear what was being said. "Do you think that you're the only one who has suffered loss, Uchiha-san?" Yuri barked. He release a touch of killing intent and Sasuke's eyes widened. "I have had to burn the bodies of my closest friends and I have no family to speak of as I was left an orphan since birth. You're more self-centered than I thought if you think that you are the only one in this world who has suffered a great loss. So your clan was killed by your brother? Suck it up and move on because to dwell on it is the act of a child."

"How can I move on? He's still out there and I have to kill him," Sasuke growled.

"Is that your life's goal? To kill the man who slaughtered you family," the Jonin asked. "Is that the reason you grow stronger?"

The Genin nodded. "Everything I do, I do to kill him."

"What a sad life you live then," Yuri said. "Tell me, what will you do after you kill him? You will have pushed everyone away from you in your fools errand and when the man you have dedicated your entire life to killing lies dead at your feet the only thing that you have lived for will be gone as well. Your life will become meaningless and you will have none to turn to. Is that what you want because if it is than your brother has already killed you too."

Sasuke let out a scream and charge Yuri. He pulled a kunai from his pouch but before he could do anything more Yuri caught his wrist and threw him to the ground.

He put a knee on the boy's throat and said, "If you throw everything away to kill this one man then you are only playing into his hands. He will control your life and play you like a puppet. You will chase him to the ends of the earth, do anything to get the power to destroy him, and even if you kill him he will have beaten you. No friends, no family, and no place to call home your brother will have taken not just your family from you but also your very life. The longer you continue this foolish quest the longer he controls you."

"What am I supposed to do then? Forget that he killed everyone I loved?" Sasuke barked and bared his teeth. He struggled to get out from under Yuri.

"Of course not," Yuri said. "You live your life, you make friends, you create a family, and, when the day comes that you cross paths with the man, you kick his ass so thoroughly that he begs for the release of death. You take back your life from him and find new people to love and protect. I get it, you feel like if you start to love others you will be replacing your family but there is nothing in the world that can replace them. The pain of their deaths will always be in your heart but so too will the memories of their smiles. If you continue with this ambition of yours all you do is tarnish the life they gave you and the love they had for you. Tell me, would your family want you to throw everything away to avenge them?"

Sasuke stopped his struggles and a few tears slipped from his eyes.

"The hardest thing we will ever do in life," Yuri said softly as he release the boy, "is learn how to let go of the past so that it doesn't control our future. Your family won't hate you if you start to love others nor will they hate you if you live for yourself and not for them. That's the beauty of families, they love you no matter what. Make them proud, Uchiha-san, and stand on your own two feet. You've been using your hate for your brother as a crutch for their loss to long and it is time to put their memories to rest."

Sasuke covered his face with his hands and a strangled sob escaped his mouth. Yuri sat down next to him so that the other Genin couldn't see him and he said loud enough for the boy to hear, "It will be difficult at first but it gets easier as time goes on. Start slow, Uchiha-san. Befriend your teammates and when you have done that you can move on from there. And who knows, when the day comes that you do fight your brother you may find that you don't fight alone."

The boy cried behind him for sometime and Yuri knew it was a catharsis that was desperately needed. Eventually Sasuke quieted and he rose from his place on the grass. Yuri looked at him and saw him wipe away at the last of the tears that had spilled. The boy nodded and they started back to the others.

"Thanks, Yuri-sensei. No one has ever said things like that to me. They always told me that things would be alright but never said the things you did," Sasuke muttered.

He smiled and said, "No problem, Uchiha-san. I was just telling you how I saw things and how I've dealt with the pain of loss. You are not alone in this world and if you ever need to talk just find me or talk to a friend. Now, for your training, I suggest asking Kakashi about a chakra control exercise and going with Haruno-san to get training weights. The hardest thing for you will be your attitude but," he glanced at the boy and gave him a soft smile, "I think you might be in the process of changing that already."

The Uchiha nodded, a faint smile on his face.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura called, "how did your spar go?"

"Well, Sakura," the boy said instead of grunting. "It went well."

Yuri smiled and said, "Very well actually. Now, I've given you each my thoughts and advise, the rest is up to you. I've suggested to both of you that you should learn how to meditate and it just so happens that Uzumaki-san knows enough to start teaching you. Think of it as a team bonding thing." He looked at each of them in turn and said, "There will be times that you all grow sick of each other or even hate each other but be quick to let pride and anger go. You all will be trusting each other with your lives and the closer you are to each other the better you will work together."

* * *

Please review, fav, and follow.

I'm going to try not to change Sakura and Sasuke's personalities dramatically, however, there will be some changes. Sakura will make fun of Naruto less and be a bit more patient with him and Sasuke will be a little more relaxed and open to others. Sakura will still kind of make fun of Naruto, but in a friendly way, and Sasuke will still be less talkative than everyone else. Hope this doesn't bother anyone.

Until next time...  
-Unbiased Abyss


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto shielded his eyes from the burning rays of the sun and gazed at the Hokage tower. He and his team had been together for about a month and things were going great. Kakashi was taking an active approach in their training and teaching them a large diversity of things that they needed to know ranging from teamwork to tactics. Naruto found that he liked the lazy, perverted Jonin and, while the man was far less strict in his supervision than Yuri, Naruto had learned much from the man.

The blonde and his team stepped into the Hokage Tower and Sakura gasped, "It's so hot out."

Naruto smirked. His and the pinkette's relationship had changed drastically after the training session with Yuri. No longer did she call him names or put him down but she now playfully took jabs at him and he her. They were acting like real friends now. The only problem that Naruto could think of was that she hadn't gotten over her obsession of Sasuke and it did get slightly annoying to listen to her attempt to get the boy to go on a date with her.

As for her training in her kunoichi abilities, Sakura had asked Kakashi about the taijutsu that Yuri had suggested and the man did know someone who could teach it. He promised that he would talk to the man who could teach her after she had progressed far enough in her physical abilities to truly benefit from the style. She had also stopped her diet and she was full of energy because of it. She was still a little temperamental but she was working on it and the meditation that Naruto was teaching the team was helping her a lot.

The calming exercise was also helping Sasuke, who had relaxed dramatically since the session with Yuri. He didn't talk more but he did grunt less and actually communicated with them. His taijutsu had improved in the time since and he and Naruto had many spars. Naruto had been worried when he had beaten the Uchiha in their first spar together but instead of getting angry, Sasuke just got up, congratulated him with a simple nod of respect, and they started again. Yuri hadn't been entirely pleased when Naruto told him that he had lost that second spar but his sensei had told him that he was lucky to have found an effective sparring partner.

Naruto's relationship with both of them had started to move towards a friendship and he knew that the other two felt the same. Sakura was the talkative one, Sasuke was the silent one, and Naruto was the happy middle of the two. He could talk at length with Sakura but he also enjoyed the peaceful silence he and Sasuke often had together when they walked back to the village after training.

Yuri had come to two more sessions after the first and those days were always the hardest. He would make liberal use of his clones and fix mistakes the moment they happened. He had taught Sakura all he knew about Tsuyoi Hachisu which was limited to only the first two katas, had helped Naruto with both his styles, had given Sasuke intensive training with reading micromovements, and had subjected all of them to ambush training which had been exciting and fun for the three Genin as it taught them how to react as a team and it allowed Sasuke and Sakura to get their first real tastes of killing intent.

They entered the Hokage Tower and worked their way through it until they arrived at the Hokage's office. Naruto followed his Jonin-sensei into the room and was surprised to see a grim faced Yuri turn from talking with the old man.

"You called for Squad 7," Kakashi said.

The Jonin must have noticed Yuri's look because he immediately put his book away and gave his full attention to the situation. The friendship between Yuri and Kakashi had grown since they had first met and it was a good thing for the silver-haired man from what Naruto could tell. Near the beginning of Squad 7's formation, Kakashi always looked slightly worn, as if he didn't get enough sleep, but now he seemed to have more energy, like something had finally been put to rest or a burden had been lifted or shared. Naruto didn't know what happened between the two but both seemed to trust each other with their lives.

"I did," the old man said in a tone that Naruto had only heard a few times before. It was a serious voice that Naruto had called the old man's 'Hokage voice.' "I'm just going to cut right to it. Recently, I sent Genin Squad 10 on a C-rank mission. Asuma assured me that his team was ready but I suspect that there was another reason for his insistence on going. That was about nine days ago and I have just received a message from a futon jutsu from Asuma requesting back-up. The message was short, 'Enemy shinobi engaged.'

"At this time I don't know if Asuma and his team are even still alive and I am short on shinobi to send due to preparing for a meeting with the Raikage and the Kazekage. That is why I will be sending Genin Squads 7 and 8 and Yuri Karasu to assist Asuma's team. I am placing Kakashi-san in charge of this mission and, if things start to look bad, I am ordering you all to abandon the mission and return to Konoha. This is a serious mission and its rank is at least a B and more than likely an A. I may be overreacting but I believe that I am better safe than sorry in this situation."

Kakashi turned to Naruto and the other Genin, his eyes were serious with no hint of his normal humor or laziness. "Genin," he ordered. "Go and pack for a medium term mission like I showed you. Be at the Main Gate in twenty minutes. Go!"

Kakashi's reasoning for meeting at the Main Gate was simple, all major roads connected with the Main Gate.

The Genin bolted from the room and Kakashi turned back to the Hokage. "What was the mission?"

Yuri was the one who answered. "It was an escort mission to Wave. A bridge-builder, Tazuna Ito, hired a shinobi team to protect him on his way to Wave. He had said that there was some bandit activity in Wave that he was concerned about but never made mention of shinobi." The black-haired man looked at Hiruzen and asked, "What was Asuma's reason for taking this mission? His squad is weaker than Kakashi's and his is only barely ready for such a thing."

The old man bowed his head, a small look of shame crossed his face, and he said, "We had a fight the day before he left. It would appear that he couldn't even tolerate being in the same village as me after it."

Kakashi glanced at Yuri when he heard the man huff and asked the Hokage, "Is here anything else that we should be aware of? I'm making Yuri my second-in-command so what I know he knows and vis-versa."

"No," the old Sarutobi answered. "That is all that I know. Wave is relatively peaceful with only minor bandit activity. I had honestly thought that his team would be able to handle it but I doubt anyone could have foreseen shinobi becoming involved."

The old man sent Yuri a pointed look after his last sentence and Kakashi made a note to ask Yuri if he knew anything when they weren't so rushed.

"Kurenai and her team will be meeting at the Main Gate within the half-hour," Hiruzen said. "Go, and bring Squad 10 back alive."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Yuri and Kakashi arrived at the Main Gate ten minutes after leaving the old man's office. It didn't surprise Yuri in the least that the silver-haired Jonin was taking the mission so seriously as the man had lost his own team in a mission gone bad.

Kurenai gave a wave when she spotted them and Yuri returned it with a nod of his head. He had only meet the Kurenai of this timeline a few times but if she was anything like the one he knew then she was a powerful genjutsu practitioner that even Itachi Uchiha complemented. Her death had not been a nice one and Yuri did his best to ignore the screams of pain and fear that echoed in his head. Her death had been a slow one... a terrible one and the young Hinata Hyuga's was no better.

He would have smiled when he saw the young girl if the situation wasn't so serious. She was so insecure that it was cute but when in battle she was a force not to be taken lightly. She had never really gotten over her insecurities, never had the chance really, and Yuri made a silent vow that he wouldn't let the small Hyuga and Kurenai die the way they did in his timeline.

A small bark made Yuri look to a white dog that came running to Kakashi's feet and it didn't shock Yuri that the man knelt down to pet it. Kakashi was a dog person, even had a summoning contract with a pack of ninja dogs. Akamaru, the dog, yapped and ran over to Yuri but when he got within three feet of him the dog stopped. Akamaru studied him, bowed his head, and started to whine.

"Akamaru," Kiba said as he ran over. "What's wrong buddy?" The Inuzuka shot Yuri a look and yelled, "Did you do something to Akamaru?!"

"Kiba!" Kurenai snapped and the boy looked at her sheepishly. She looked to Yuri with her mystifying red-eyes and said, "I apologize for his behavior."

"No reason to apologize," Yuri said and waved his hand to dispel some of the tension that thickened the air. "You're not the one who insulted me. The boy was the one who did that."

"Who are you calling 'boy'," Kiba barked.

Yuri ignored him and addressed the female Jonin. "You have been informed of our mission in detail?"

"Hai," she responded. "As I understand it, Kakashi is in command."

The Jonin just mentioned stepped forward and said, "As the Hokage commands. I have chosen Yuri as my second-in-command, have you two met?"

"Ah," Yuri said and bowed slightly. "Forgive me, I've yet to introduce myself. Yuri Karasu, Jonin of Konoha."

"Kurenai Yuhi," she said and sent the man an approving smile. The Kurenai of Yuri's timeline had always valued people being polite and respectful so the smile didn't take Yuri off guard nor send him the wrong message. The woman was with Asuma so there was little point in pursuing her as it was.

"Kakashi-sensei!" a familiar voice called and everyone looked to to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura come running down the road.

Kiba ran to Naruto and bellowed, "Naruto! Long time, no see, man!"

The blonde stopped to talk to the Inuzuka while Sasuke and Sakura approach Kakashi. The Uchiha sent a nod to Shino who hadn't said a word the entire time and the bug master returned it with one of his own.

"Alright, listen up everyone!" Kakashi said loudly. "This isn't a practice mission nor is this a normal outing. We are a reinforcement team being sent to aid Squad 10. A message was received that indicates that there are enemy shinobi involved with this mission. I'm in charge and anything I say goes. If I tell you to engage an enemy I expect you to do so and if I tell you to run then you don't look back, am I understood?"

The Genin of Squad 7 answered in acknowledgement at once. They had gone through some rather extreme combat training with Yuri and Kakashi and it was to be expected that they knew or at least grasped what they were getting into. Kurenai's team on the other hand answered much slower with Kiba barking off a quick 'Got it' and the other two only nodding.

"Good. The journey to Wave is about a two-week trip with a civilian escort. Team 10 left nine days ago, so we have to arrive in four days."

"That's quite the pace, Kakashi-san. I'm not sure either of our Genin can handle it," Kurenai commented.

Kakashi nodded and answered, "I have something in mind for when our Genin start to tire. There will be quick breaks to rest every three hours. We do not stop, even at night."

"How do we sleep?" Kiba asked.

Kakashi eye-smiled.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

The trip to Wave went by in a blur of green leaves and bitter exhaustion for the Genin. They had all been fine for the first several rests but Hinata had been the first to show signs of tiring. She had fallen out of formation but before anyone could say anything to her the black-haired Yuri snatched her out to the air and carried her on his back.

The girl had been mortified at being the first to need a break but Yuri assured her that she had done extraordinarily well for a Genin. The next had been Sakura, then Shino, and finally Kiba. Each of them had been taken by a kage bunshin that Yuri created and he even had two take Naruto and Sasuke after the first full day. They had both voiced their displeasure but Yuri had none of it as he told them to swallow their pride and stop pushing themselves so hard before a possibly difficult fight.

The trip continued in that pattern. The Genin would rest on the back of one of Yuri's kage bunshin and when they were rested they would continue the run. Traveling in such a way had first been proposed by Kakashi when the two had left the Hokage's office as the man had foreseen the Genin slowing the Jonin down.

They reached the waters on of the eastern border of Konoha and didn't slow as Yuri created enough clones to carry the Genin. The Jonin raced across the water and when they made it to land they each tensed.

"There is a battle going on up ahead," Kurenai said as she and the two male Jonin slowed to a stop.

Kakashi rubbed his chin and said, "There seem to be a few chakra signatures in their air."

"There are eight distinct chakra signatures in the air," Shino commented.

Kiba sniffed and growled, "I smell blood."

"Eight signatures means at least four enemies," Kakashi said. "Yuri, I want you to take one and separate them from the rest while Kurenai, Asuma, and myself handle the others. Kill them and then return to us as fast as you can. Your opponent won't be able to rely on aid if we're keeping them busy." He turned to the Genin and said, "I don't know how strong our opponents are so for the time being your mission is to get Tazuna and the Genin of Squad 10 away from the battle. Am I clear?"

They each responded.

Kakashi looked them each in the eyes and when he was satisfied he said, "Move out."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Naruto's heart pounded in his chest as he ran beside Yuri. This was going to be his first real battle and he found that his mind was slowing down on him as his excitement and fear took charge.

'Remember Naruto,' Yuri had told him during his training before he became part of Squad 7, 'sometimes the smartest choices are ones that go against what your emotions tell you to do.'

Naruto focused his mind and channeled his energy and fear into tools that would help him keep sharp in battle. He was ready, or at least as ready as he could ever be.

The blonde broke through the green curtain of leaves and took his first look of the battle field. The man he knew to be Asuma from when the man came to pick up his team from the Academy was standing in the middle of the clearing, trench knives held tightly in his hands, and blood oozed from several wounds. An old man was near Naruto as he had apparently broken into the battle from Team 7's side of the clearing and Choji stood in front of the man with his arms crossed. Shikamaru was near Asuma, a hand over a red stain on his side and the other in a seal. Black shadows were spread around him and Asuma and Naruto guessed that he was using his family jutsu to keep the enemy at bay.

The group on the other side of the clearing had surprised looks on their faces as they most certainly had not been expecting Konoha shinobi to come bursting into the battle with a ferocity that could only be match by legend and make-believe. One of them had a massive sword and bandages covered his face. Another had a black trench-coat with a high collar and white hair. The third was a woman and she had on a red kimono that looked too constricting to fight in and accented her bust more than modesty would allow.

The fourth enemy, however, terrified Naruto to no end and almost caused his steps to falter. The man looked normal in every way and even wore a normal looking tan shirt and brown pants. He had a pleasant smile on his face and the killing intent that was flowing off of him was suffocating. Naruto had been trained to deal with killing intent but the amount that was coming off the guy was almost unreal. No one who could produce that much killing intent could be a good person, Naruto was convinced.

A pressure erupted to Naruto's left and Yuri unleashed a killing intent that obliterated the other man's. It wasn't directed at Naruto, so he didn't feel it, but it was like looking at an ocean without getting into it; he couldn't not notice how monstrous it was.

Yuri unleashed a roar that shook the air and rushed the smiling man. The black-haired Jonin was fast, faster than Naruto could see, and, before the enemy could react, the smiling man flew back into the forest with Yuri following close behind.

Yuri's action seemed to break the spell that had been placed on time itself and everything started to move again. The enemy charged, Asuma and Shikamaru collapsed, and the Genin followed close behind the Jonin to gather the fallen Sarutobi and Nara.

Naruto scanned the clearing for Ino and his heart skipped a beat when he found her. She was off to the left of the clearing, laying in a heap. The black coat man skirted around the edge of the clearing and Naruto saw that he was making his way to the young blonde girl.

He growled and rushed to Ino. Kakashi and Kurenai were busy with the other two shinobi and every effort that either of them made to get to the girl was thwarted. It was obvious to Naruto what the enemy shinobi were doing. In a normal battle the loss of a single Genin wouldn't have been that great of loss, in the grand scheme of things at least, but in a rescue mission the loss of one of the people that were being rescued would have a huge impact on the moral of the Konoha shinobi.

Just as Naruto neared the downed blonde, a huge blade appeared in front of him and in a cascade of sparks it was stopped by the small kunai that Kakashi wielded. "Protect Ino, Naruto!" Kakashi roared as he pushed the large sword back and the two vanished in a burst of speed.

Steeling himself, Naruto hurried to Ino and let out a loud roar of challenge when he saw the black trench-coat man near the girl. The scream caused the man to look at Naruto and that gave the blonde enough time to get to Ino. His mind burned as he thought about his options. He couldn't take her and run as he would never be able to outrun his enemy and he had released his gravity seal back when he left Konoha, so he was already going his top speed.

He could always fight the enemy but Naruto didn't know how strong the man was and to attack without said knowledge could only be done with extreme care and caution. That left him with only one option, defend.

Naruto took a step over Ino so that she was straddled between his legs and fell into a Tetsu Sheru stance that was used in the seventh kata. Yuri had called the specific kata, Gisei Sutansu and Naruto hadn't understood why it was called the 'sacrificial stance' until he learned its purpose.

The trench-coat man tilted his head and questioned, "You would die to protect her?"

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi of Konoha," Naruto growled. "I don't abandon my comrades, even if it means my life."

The man nodded slowly. "Katsutoshi Nagashi, your death."

Naruto kept his eyes on the man as he pulled a sword from his trench-coat and the blonde forced his rapid breathing to slow. Panic would only get him killed. The man swung his sword once and then vanished from the blonde's sight. He focused on his shell of awareness and kept his eyes moving. The key to the Tetsu Sheru was using all the senses the body had to offer and then react when something broke into the shell that the user created around them.

The seventh kata was unique in that it was designed to defend against stronger, faster shinobi and was ideally used in the defense of a downed ally. Unlike other katas, this one expanded the shell of awareness and because of that it was a massive strain on the users mental abilities. Naruto felt something enter his shell in front of him and his body moved in reflex, his arms moved to knock the blade of the katana off course and his body rotated. He felt the blade rip into his flesh and when the blade pulled away he was left with a ghastly cut on his right shoulder. The Gisei Sutansu didn't block attacks but diverted them to hit less critical areas so, in a sense, the practitioner sacrificed their own body to protect their charge as long a possible.

"You diverted my attack," Katsutoshi muttered. "Interesting."

Naruto defended Ino with everything he had and he knew that his opponent was doing his all to end the blonde's life. Naruto guessed that the man was about mid-Chunin but that knowledge didn't stop the sword from biting into his flesh. His arms and body were in near constant motion and red lines appeared along Naruto's body in his desperate struggle to save Ino. Blood started to flow down his limbs and he pushed as much of the pain out of mind that he could.

The trench-coated man appeared in front of Naruto in a display of speed and the sword was in mid-swing. Naruto's mind raced as he evaluated his options and his body acted even before he could solidify what he was going to do. The blonde rotated his body, bent his front leg, and reached down to grab Ino. The sword hit him in the chest and just as it did he pushed with his front leg to lessen the blow and he felt the blade roll along the steel plates in his leather jerkin. The katana cut through his armor at mid-swing and he growled when the steel ripped into his chest.

The force of the attack sent Naruto sliding along the ground and he dragged Ino with him as he held onto her body. He stopped and was immediately back into his taijutsu stance. Blood poured from the massive cut on his chest and he knew that the sword had ground against several of his ribs. He turned his mind from the wound and forced it to focus on the battle. The chest was only flesh with all the important stuff protected by the rib-cage. He was in little danger from the wound since the steel blade had clearly not gotten past his bones but it had cracked them and he made his body take in air even as his ribs roared in protest.

"Naruto!"

The blonde took a chance and glanced back to see the other Genin fighting what appeared to be copies of the enemy shinobi with bandages on his face. They appeared to be hard pressed but Sasuke came leaping high over the battle and unleashed a fire-ball toward Naruto.

The fireball shot over the blonde's head and crashed into the ground, causing the trench-coated man to back off. Naruto, finally getting a small bit of breathing room, crossed his fingers and called, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Several clouds of white smoke appeared and one of the clones snatched Ino up from the ground. Four of the ten clones that Naruto made rushed back to help the other Genin and three worked to keep Ino safe as they took her to where Asuma and Shikamaru were. Naruto nodded his thanks to the Uchiha who rushed to his side and fell into his classic Interceptor stance.

"You look like shit, Naruto," the boy commented.

Naruto grinned and shot back, "Bite me."

Katsutoshi appeared in front of them and said, "Another? No matter, you will both die soon enough."

Sasuke didn't reply but rushed the man. He weaved around the sword with such fluidity and skill that it looked like he was dodging before the opponent was even moving but for all his skill and determination the boy was being pushed to his extremes and many of the attacks were far too close for comfort.

Naruto sent his remain clones around Sasuke to flank while he jumped over the boy and sent a sharp strike toward his enemies head. The man blocked it but in doing so allowed Sasuke and two of Naruto's clones to land solid hits. He staggered and wasn't able to block the heavy upward attack that the blonde sent at him when he landed. Katsutoshi went sliding across the ground and rubbed his chest when he regained control of his slide.

Just when the two Genin were going to press their advantage several senbon shot out from the forest, stopping any attack they could press. Naruto looked up to see Yuri come flying backwards out of the canopy sending kunai at his unseen attackers. He turned in the air and, to Naruto's horror he was caught on the large blade of the bandaged man.

It appeared that Kakashi had been pressured from both the masked man and the woman when Kurenai was forced to give a moments aid to the Genin.

It all happened in slow motion for Naruto. The bandaged man raised his sword with an ease and simplicity that it was almost mocking and Yuri, the man who Naruto had come to look up to, didn't have the time to avoid it. The massive blade ripped into his stomach and exploded out of his back. He became wedged in the middle of the sword and blood poured down the blade and onto the ground.

Everything seemed to stop at that moment. Two people, the smiling man and another person who wore a white mask with strange red markings, came from the forest and landed near the masked man.

Naruto couldn't speak. All he could do was watch as the man who changed his life cough up blood onto the steel of the large blade that skewered him.

"That's one," the man muttered loudly

Yuri shakily raised his hand and placed it on the sword. He pulled at it slightly and then collapsed with a final gasp.

* * *

Until next time...  
-Unbiased Abyss


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Pain, anger, hate, fear, and a number of other emotions filled Naruto but before he could carelessly rush the man who had taken someone he cared about away from him, Yuri exploded. It wasn't an explosion of blood and guts but something that Naruto would have expected from an explosive tag and the man with the sword was thrown from his sword.

Spikes of stone erupted from the ground in all areas of the clearing but they centered on the enemy shinobi and some of the spikes even chased a few of the enemy in dazzling arcs and deadly speeds.

The twinkling of sparks in the middle of the battle stole the blonde's attention and Naruto saw something that made his heart soar and his courage explode to heights that he had never felt before. There, in the center of all the destruction and power, was the black-haired Yuri blocking an attack from the man who had killed him only a moment ago.

Yuri pressed the swordsman and was pushed back. Naruto bellowed a warning when the smiling man appeared behind Yuri but Kakashi blurred into existence between the two and stopped the flank. The two fought, back to back, against their opponents in a display of skill that Naruto had never imagined. Yuri would block an attack from the smiling man intended for Kakashi while the silver-haired Jonin would launch a wave of brutal strikes against the masked man. Then, Kakashi would defend and Yuri would attack. Each defended the other in an eery dance that would only end with the death of those involved.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" a feminine voice snapped and Naruto knew it to be Kurenai getting his attention. He looked and saw the rest of the Genin, Kurenai, and the now barely standing Asuma.

The two ran over and Naruto ordered his clones to take up positions in front of them to act as a barrier of sorts.

Naruto looked at the Jonin and asked heatedly, "Why aren't you out there helping them?"

"Watch your tone," Asuma growled. "She can't do anything." He pointed across the battlefield and Naruto saw the trench-coated man and the new white masked figure that had thrown the senbon. "If she were to join the battle they would attack and I'm too injured to be of much help. She must stay. It's a stalemate."

"I wouldn't be of much help anyway," Kurenai said but never took her eyes from the battle. "This battle has gone above me and I have a feeling that I would only get in the way. With all the chakra that is being thrown around none of my Genjutsu would stick and the ones that would have a chance of also affecting Kakashi and Yuri. At the moment, the only thing I can do is wait for the opportune moment."

Asuma nodded, turned his eyes back to the battle and said, "Don't look away any of you. Don't even blink. You all want to know what a Jonin battle is like, then watch this to the bitter end."

Naruto swallowed everything that he wanted to say and looked to the battle. Fire sparked from the right and the woman with the red kimono sent a stream of fire at the two battling Konoha shinobi. Yuri kicked the masked man away from him and cast his arms out in front of him. Wind rushed out and smashed almost physically into the fire, preventing it from getting any closer.

Kakashi ducked a swung from the massive sword and disappeared in a burst of speed. He appeared behind the masked man and stabbed a kunai into the back of his head but gained nothing at the man exploded into water. The man came from the side and cut Kakashi in half but the Jonin also changed into water.

Yuri jumped back, allowing a silver streak to come under him and engage the smiling man, and the water from the fake Kakashi moved in the air. It changed into the shape of a hundred bees and flew after the masked man but before he could press any advantage the woman landed a brutal kick to his said.

The black-haired Jonin twisted in the air, sending out several shuriken, and when he landed the ground beneath him bucked. Something rose from the ground and a stone panther roared as it took shape. Explosions echoed across the battlefield and the shuriken that he had thrown before exploded into fire and shrapnel. The woman vanished in one of the explosions and the masked man hid behind his massive sword to block any of the flying metal.

Naruto was taken by surprise when one of his clone popped and he figured that it was hit by a piece of metal. He created more clones to form a virtual wall and watched as the panther rushed toward the swordsman. The man-made to jump out-of-the-way but hands erupted from the ground and grabbed his legs. Kakashi's head appeared for one moment and then the man was up to his shoulders in the earth with the roaring panther descending on him.

Yuri jumped off the cat and sent a spinning kick at the woman who attempted to flank him again. The woman went flying toward the two bystanders and the smiling man backed off his attack. He appeared next to the other enemy shinobi with the masked man over one of his shoulders and the massive sword held firmly in his hand.

A wind blew the dust from the battlefield to reveal twisted and overturned earth. Charred dirt and grass marked where explosions and fire jutsu burned. Kakashi was positioned on one of the highest spikes of earth, a kunai in his hand, and Yuri was below him with his hands held in a seal. It was only now that they had stopped moving at such extreme speeds that Naruto saw how injured they were. Blood stained their cloths in several places and a kunai stuck out of Yuri's thigh. Kakashi's left arm hung limp at his side and was covered in cuts and blood.

The enemy shinobi looked none better and the smiling man said, "It appears that none of us are able to continue this battle. We will retreat, for now."

Naruto watched them disappear but none of the Jonin relaxed and several tense minutes went by. Finally Asuma dropped to one knee and Kakashi slipped down from the spike.

"Genin," Kurenai commanded, "stay close to Tazuna. Choji, carry Shikamaru. Naruto, take In-" she stopped when she looked at the young blonde. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "Naruto."

"I'm fine," he barked with a determined look on his face. "I'll carry Ino and send out kage bunshin as scouts."

"Naruto, your injuries-" the female Jonin started but Naruto cut her off.

"They can wait. There are others who need more attention than me." He created thirty clones and sent them off. He looked to the field and saw Yuri walk over with a limping Kakashi being supported on his shoulder.

"Kakashi is about to drop from chakra exhaustion," Yuri barked. Several clones of him appeared behind him and fanned out into the forest while one picked up Asuma. "Tazuna-san, take guide us to your home immediately."

"O-okay," the old man stuttered and started walking.

Naruto hefted Ino onto his back and caught up to Yuri. He looked at the man and said, "Yuri-sensei, there is a kunai in your leg."

The man looked down, took hold of it, and pulled it out in one swift motion. "Keep your senses focused on your surroundings, Uzumaki-san. The enemy might not be gone."

Naruto nodded and looked to the forest around him. Asuma had said to not look away from the battle and he hadn't. The sheer amount of power and skill that had been displayed scared Naruto more than he wanted to admit but it also invigorated him to work even harder. He never wanted to sit on the sidelines and watch again.

He had struggled to answer Ayame's question about why he wanted to get stronger but he felt that he finally came to a satisfactory answer. He would get stronger so that others didn't have to fight. He would get stronger so that he could stand by those he respected and looked up to. He would get stronger to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Blurred images flashed into her brain. The boat ride into wave. The simple walk down the dirt path. The sickening feeling that fell over her. The attack.

The shriek of kunai and shuriken filled the air and Asuma bellowed something that she couldn't understand. She had collapsed or had the ground rose to meet? She didn't know.

Darkness took over her mind and in a flash she saw a blurred image of someone standing over her. The person was fighting, she thought, and was being stabbed and slashed by a ray of darkness. The person...it was as if they were made of golden light and every time they were hurt liquid light flowed from their body. It was a beautiful, grisly display and she felt warm light spill into her face.

Ino woke up slowly. Her eyes were heavy and the smell of the ocean drifted into the room that she was in from the open wind. It was night but pale moonlight light everything in a beautiful glow.

"You're awake," Choji said from a chair across the room.

She had a dream. She could remember it clearly. The person made of light, the fighting, she shook her head as she tried to remember more.

"Ino."

She looked up to Choji and asked, "Wh-"

She stopped talking. She was in a room. She remembered being attacked in a forest clearing. So if she was in a comfortable bed and in a room with rather simple furnishings than that meant that Asuma had managed to fight off the enemy shinobi that had attacked them.

"Where are we, Choji?" she asked.

He looked at her for a second and nodded to himself as if he was satisfied that she was fine. He took a hand-full of chips and said as he chomped on them, "We're at Tazuna's house."

"So, Asuma-sensei won," she said as she continued to look around.

She saw Shikamaru in a second bed in the room. He was asleep, typical of the lazy Nara, and she grabbed a pillow to throw at him.

"Don't Ino," the Akimichi warned. "Shikamaru was hurt pretty badly during the attack and needs to rest. Hinata put some healing salve on his wounds but he still needs to sleep because of chakra exhaustion."

Ino looked at the sleeping Nara for a minute and asked, "Hinata? What happened, Choji?"

A grim look crossed his face and he answered, "Everything went downhill fast. You passed out due to the extreme killing intent and Asuma-sensei fought against all four of the enemy shinobi at once while Shikamaru and I tried to get to you. We were stopped by one of the enemy, which relieved Asuma-sensei only slightly, and eventually Shikamaru went to aid Asuma-sensei while I kept the shinobi we were fighting busy. He had pushed me all the way back to Tazuna before help arrived."

"Help?" Ino questioned.

The plump Genin nodded. "Squad 7 and 8 along with another Jonin. They just came rushing from the forest like warriors sent by Kami and took control of the battle. Squad 7's sensei, Kakashi, took on the guy with bandages on his face, Squad 8's sensei, Kurenai, fought against the woman, and the other Jonin, Yuri, attacked that smiling guy."

"What about the guy with the white-hair and trench coat?"

Choji took another handful of chips and said, "Naruto fought him."

"Naruto!" she said, shocked. "The dead last fought him?"

A deep frown appeared on Choji's face and Ino knew she had said something she shouldn't have. The Akimichi was the nicest person that Ino knew so when he got even the tiniest bit upset she knew that someone had cross the line.

"Naruto held him off for seven minutes until Sasuke could get past the water clones that the bandaged guy sent after us," he said seriously. "When Naruto finally got you back to us he was covered in blood and wounds but you hadn't been hurt in the slightest."

Her dream. Perhaps it wasn't as much a dream as it was her brain making sense of the confused signals her eyes were sending as she came in and out of consciousness. Naruto had saved her life...and she had called him a dead last.

"When Kurenai asked Naruto how he even managed to survive," he paused slightly to make a point and continued, "against his opponent he said that one of the katas of his taijutsu was created for fighting against stronger opponents. He called it the Gisei Sutansu, the sacrificial stance."

Ino didn't say anything as her mind slowly registered what Choji had said. Naruto had defended her against an enemy that he knew was stronger then him and he had done so using something called the sacrificial stance. Her heart dropped slightly and she felt an ache form in the pit of her stomach.

Choji watched her for a moment and said, "He's fine, Ino."

"Really?" she asked. "You said that he had been badly hurt."

"He was," he confirmed, "but Naruto appears to have a healing ability that accelerates his natural ability to extraordinary rates. Kiba asked if it was a kekkei genkai but Naruto said that it was more like a curse but he didn't explain what he meant. As it is, he's fine. Almost completely healed actually."

Ino nodded and made a note to ask Naruto about his healing ability later. Knowing that the blonde wasn't in mortal danger put Ino's heart at ease but she still had to thank him. She hadn't been the nicest person to the boy and if she was in his place she didn't know if she would have done the same. It chilled her to admit that to herself and she started to think about why she became a shinobi in the first place.

She shook her head and asked Choji, "How is Asuma-sensei?"

"Not the greatest but he will be fine," the plump boy answered. "He was easily the most injured of our group, then it would be Kakashi who took a few minor hits and is also suffering from chakra exhaustion, and the third would have been Naruto but since he's fine it is Shikamaru. Kurenai assured us that he would be fine though."

She put a hand to her head and rubbed her temple. "Where is everyone?"

"Well, we're here," he paused long enough to swat a pillow out of the air compliments of Ino and shot her a happy smile, "Kiba, Shino, and Hinata are sleeping in their room, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are in their room, and Kurenai, Asuma-sensei, Kakashi, and Yuri are in the kitchen talking about our situation."

"How does it look?"

He didn't say anything for a little bit and when he did the answer he gave her shot a spike of dread into her heart. "Not good."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

"All of the Genin are in their rooms," Kurenai said as she walked into the kitchen from the hallway that led to the rooms. "Choji is looking over Shikamaru and Ino and the others are sleeping already."

Asuma smiled from his place at the table. "Choji's to nice for his own good, but that's what makes him unique."

The young Sarutobi was covered in bandages and his wounds had been covered in a thick salve made by the Hyuga heiress. Apparently many herbs grew in the area that could be used to create healing slaves and the young girl had instructed Kurenai's team in harvesting the herbs for use.

"One can only hope that that kindness doesn't hurt him in the future," Kakashi commented.

The silver-haired Jonin was also seated at the table and while he wasn't covered in as many bandages he looked like death was on his doorstep. He explained to Yuri on the trip to the house that his Sharingan eye took a great deal of chakra to use since he wasn't of Uchiha blood and the black-haired man only nodded as he scanned the forest.

Kurenai sat down and thanked Tsunami, the old bridge-builder's daughter, who set down a cup of steaming tea in front of the red-eyed beauty.

"No, thank you," the woman replied. "If it wasn't for you and the rest my otou-san would be dead right now."

An old man bowed at the head of the table and said, "Thank you very much."

"Mah mah," Kakashi said. He made to wave his hand but when it didn't move he gave it an angry look. "We were in the area and decided to give a helping hand, that's all."

Kurenai taped the back of the silver-haired Jonin's head with two fingers and said, "The Hokage sent us as reinforcements when he received a message about Asuma's team engaging enemy shinobi." She gave the young Sarutobi a look and said, "I mean no offense to Tazuna or Tsunami but...why didn't you turn back, Asuma? Not only that but why did you take the mission in the first place? Your Genin have only been out the Academy for about two months, that isn't enough time for any squad to be ready for a C-rank mission."

Asuma leaned back and said, "I figured that if it was just bandits they could handle themselves and if anything happened I could deal with it. There wasn't supposed to be enemy shinobi."

Tazuna bowed his head and took another gulp of his sake.

"It doesn't matter what information you were provided," Kurenai said sternly, "it doesn't change the fact that your squad wasn't ready for a C-rank mission and you still took it. To take this mission was an act of comple-"

Asuma was saved from further verbal assault when Yuri entered the house. The black-haired man looked around, aware of the tension radiating off the red-eyed kunoichi, and said, "You can finish crucifying Sarutobi-san later, for now we need to think of a plan."

Kakashi nodded as best he could and said, "Agreed."

Kurenai sent a final glare at Asuma and said, "That guy with the bandages on his face was Zabuza Momochi. He was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before he attempted a coup. The Bingo Book says that he failed and fled the country with several others who had helped him."

"Zabuza is the strongest of the enemy shinobi that we have to deal with," Kakashi said. "He is fast, strong, and has a medium supply of chakra from what I saw."

"But," Asuma commented, "he is arrogant as evidence by the fact that he didn't just attack Tazuna when he and the rest of them were fighting me. He wanted to kill me before he killed the bridge-builder."

Kakashi hummed and said, "As it stands, he is injured and I don't think they will attack until he is better. He is the strongest of them and they don't know how many of us aren't in fighting shape so I speculate that we have about a week before we should start being concerned."

"As for Zabuza's friends," Asuma said, "the woman with the red kimono is skilled at ninjutsu. Jonin level at least and the guy who wore the trench coat relied on kenjutsu but is only at the skill of mid-Chunin, so if one of us can make quick work of him then that would open up some possibilities."

"They would never give us the chance so it will be up to our Genin to take him down," Yuri muttered. "The one in the white mask is fast and I'd place him at about low-Jonin. The guy who kept smiling is a different matter however."

Kurenai tilted her head and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yuri shook his head slowly and explained, "The man uses killing intent in ways that I didn't think possible, it has to be a kekkei genkai. Yuhi-san would be best suited to fight him."

"Me?"

"The way he manipulates his killing intent causes genjutsu like effects. I've experienced my fair share of killing intent but even then that man was still able to make me see things that weren't there and caused my breathing to tighten. You would be best against him, Yuhi-san, because you are the best at genjutsu of all of us here. Honestly, I suck at it and prefer to not fight that man again. My skills would be better set against Zabuza or the woman."

The silver-haired Jonin shifted in his chair. "We'll figure out who will fight who as the week progresses," he said. "For now, our Genin are not ready for this type of mission but we can't send them back to Konoha since we don't know where the enemy is. We could very well send them right to the jaws of the beast without even knowing and we can't send one of us Jonin either."

Kurenai pressed her lips together and said, "We don't have a choice then but what can we do to keep them safe?"

"It isn't a matter of keeping them safe but preparing them as best we can," Yuri said. "They are shinobi and facing death is something that they will do for the rest of their lives."

"You would have them fight?" the female Jonin asked with venom in her voice. "You saw what happened to Naruto and he was fighting the weakest of them. If they fight-," she stopped. "You would have them die to even the odds."

Yuri looked calmly at Kurenai. She was just like the Kurenai he had briefly known. She was brave, smart, and ferociously protective of people she cared about. He must have become lost in thought because Asuma had sent the red-eyed woman a withering glare.

"He never said that Kurenai!" he barked with anger.

Kurenai, eyes wide at the insult she had unintentionally done, leaned back in her chair and Yuri rose a hand. "Peace, you two. Yuhi-san is only concerned about the Genin's well-being and that isn't something to be scolded. I apologize if I sounded unkind with my words, Yuhi-san, but the fact of the matter is that the enemy won't be so kind as to leave the Genin out of this. They know that they are our weakest components and that one of us would have to support them if they were attacked. I only suggest that we prepare them as much as we can with the time available, that way they can have at least a fighting chance."

Asuma muttered a quick sorry to the female Jonin and said, "Yuri is right. We need to train the Genin for the coming battle. I don't like it but they will most likely be pulled into the fighting, one way or another."

"We should avoid that as much as possible but prepare for it as well," Kakashi said. "Asuma and I are in no condition to train our Genin so I would like Kurenai and Yuri to train them."

"I'll leave a kage bunshin and take a few to the bridge while Tazna works," Yuri replied. He looked at the old man and said, "I hope it won't be a bother to have a few of our Genin training near the bridge."

Tazuna shook his head. "No, won't bother us none. Might even raise our spirits, seeing the young shinobi training so hard to protect us."

"Alright," the silver-haired Jonin said. "Kurenai will train some Genin here with the aid of Yuri's clone and Yuri himself will go to the bridge with one or two to do more individual based training."

"Individual based?" Asuma asked.

Kakashi nodded as best he could. "Yuri is exceptional at identifying and fixing weaknesses in both the physical areas and also the mental ones too."

"You give me too much credit, Kakashi," Yuri muttered. "However, if that is how you wish to do it then I will comply." The man nodded again. "Very well, then I will take the first watch."

"And I'll take the second," Kurenai said.

Asuma grinned. "Good, I could use the rest."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Kakashi watched his black-haired friend walk out of the front door of the house and knew that the man wouldn't waiver for a moment on his watch. He trusted the man and that wasn't something that Kakashi could say about many people.

He looked back at the rest of the people in the room when Asuma asked Tazuna and Tsunami to leave the room. When they were gone Kurenai and Asuma got serious looks in their eyes.

"Kakashi," Asuma said, his eyes back on the door. "Just who is Yuri?"

Kakashi sent the man a questioning look and asked, "What do you mean?"

Kurenai answered, "What he means is that there aren't many shinobi in Konoha that could participate in the battle that you two fought in. Not only that but all of the jutsu he used he did without any hand-seals. Besides me, he came out the least harmed and his wounds didn't even bother him. I saw him rip a kunai from his leg and it had to have gone down to the bone. There aren't many who can ignore that kind of pain."

"You think he might be ANBU," Kakashi concluded.

Asuma shook his head. "I don't know what he might be but he is too strong for me to not have heard of him before. Honestly, it's like he just came out of nowhere."

"I've thought that too until I asked Hokage-sama about it," Kakashi said. "There wasn't much that he could tell me due to the nature of the information on higher ranking shinobi but what he told me answered many of my questions."

"What did he tell you?" Kurenai asked.

The Jonin didn't answer for a few minutes. Finally, he said, "Yuri was an ANBU associated with the hunter-nin devision. Just by him being connected with the hunter-nin his information is considered an S-rank secret since it wouldn't do to have missing-nin, enemy shinobi, or even allies know who it is that is or might end up hunting them. He spent a few years as a hunter and eventually was pulled from the force when he failed an S-rank mission. He was returned back to the ranks of regular Jonin and allowed a month of leave. He is going to be staying as a Jonin but if his skills are ever needed Hokage-sama will bring him back into the fold until he has finished his assignment."

"That," Asuma said slowly, "explains that. No wonder I've never heard of him. An old hunter-nin...Damn."

Kurenai looked at the door and said, "I thought he seemed a little hard to get to know but now I understand. It's become a habit for him to not associate with other shinobi just incase he ends up hunting them."

"Exactly," Kakashi said. "I've connected to him so quickly because we are both habitually suspicious of others and instead of that magnifying between us it actually made us more comfortable with each other. You might not trust him but you do trust me and I can tell you that Yuri would die to protect any of us. That's just the kind of guy he is."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

The moonlight made the forest glow a pale blue and Yuri would have liked to have just been able to watch it but he was on guard and that meant being alert to everything that was around him. He looked to the front of the house and saw Kurenai exit the house. She looked up at him and he waved. She jumped up to him and took a set, not next to him but also not far. It was a distance of someone who didn't know where they stood with someone and it was understandable. While he trusted the woman with his life she barely knew his name.

"Beautiful night," the beauty commented.

He nodded. "It is."

A silence fell over the two and Yuri felt a tension coming from the female Jonin. After ten minutes Kurenai said, "I'm sorry for my accusation back there. It was unfair and made rashly."

"You care for your Genin," Yuri replied, "I cannot fault you for that. You don't know me and as such you immediately assumed the worst and I can't say I wouldn't have done the same in your position."

"Would you just take my apology?" she stated.

He glanced quickly at her and said, "If it means that much to you, you're forgiven." He looked back to the forest. "You fought well."

"As did you. If you hadn't come with us I'm not sure we would have survived that battle."

"You give me too much credit and yourself too little," he said. "You're a damn fine shinobi, Yuhi-san. Let none tell you otherwise."

The two went quiet again and this time it was a calm silence. The two didn't break it for some time and it was a welcome difference to the previous days of hard travel.

"You will be helping with the training?" Kurenai asked.

Yuri nodded and knew that she hadn't asked the question because she didn't know but because she wanted to ask him about something and that was the way she decided to bring it up.

She looked at him and asked, "Would you be against it if Hinata was the first one you gave individual training to? I would like it to just be her you take to the bridge as she can be very shy and it will be hard to do any sort of training with her when it is just you two not including how shy she would be if others were around."

"Any special reason?" he asked.

Her answer didn't surprise him. "She has no self-confidence," she said. "It comes from her family situation and-"

"Stop." She opened her mouth to protest and he continued, "I want to hear it from Hyuga-san's mouth. I will take her to the bridge first but anything that is wrong I want to find out from her. I've already gotten a small look at her insecurity from how she acted during the journey here and if it is a large enough concern that you've brought it up then it must be worse than I think." He looked at her and said seriously, "Are you sure you want me to address these issues? I'm far from gentle, Yuhi-san, and I might hurt her more than help her."

"I don't believe that," Kurenai said. "Only a gentle person would help out an exhausted child with no hesitation or irritation."

He smirked. "You don't know me."

"You're right I don't," she agreed, "but I know what I've seen and you, Yuri Karasu, are a good and gentle person. Now, go to bed. It is my watch."

He stared at her longer than was considered appropriate as his mind tried to make sense of what the raven-haired woman said. Kurenai, his timeline's Kurenai, had told him that he was kind and gentle as well. She told him that they were his best qualities. He shook his head slightly and rose to his feet. Just before he went off to rest he whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

Until next time...

-Unbiased Abyss


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Yuri watched the warm sun rise slowly over the green forest and cast its rays onto the stone and metal construction site that was the bridge, the cause of all the trouble. He had gotten up early, well before the sun, to give Kurenai a bit of a break and talk with Kakashi. The man approved of him bringing the young Hyuga to the bridge and warned him to be careful.

He glanced behind him and saw Hinata was also looking at the sun. Her eyes practically shone and he made himself a promise that she wouldn't go out the way she did in his timeline.

"I assume that Yuhi-san told you why you were coming with me this morning?" he asked.

She shot a nervous glance at him and looked down quickly. "Hai," she stammered.

He frowned. He knew that the girl had little to no confidence and from that demonstration he knew that it was going to be a difficult and slow journey to fix it. He studied her submissive stance, her downcast eyes, and the way she played with her hands. All of it spoke of confidence issues that stemmed from self-consciousness and perceived self-worth.

He thought about how to get her to open up to him which would be the hardest part of this entire training session and turned to watch the laborers work on the bridge. A thought came to him as he watched and he asked the young Hyuga, "Tell me Hyuga-san, can you perform any other taijutsu other than the Juken?"

She glanced at him and shook her head.

"Answer the question aloud, Hyuga-san," he said calmly with an ounce of command settled in.

She jumped and said in her typical stammer, "No, I don't."

"Do all the other Genin know the Academy Style?" he asked and turned his full attention to her.

She paused for a moment and nodded but stopped mid-way. "Hai," she said and Yuri could actually see the knowledge of her being the only one to not knowing the Academy Style crush her pathetically small confidence.

"How does that make you feel as a shinobi?"

"Weak. Useless. Pathetic," she squeaked out.

He looked at the laborers on the bridge and asked, "Do you know how to build a bridge, Hinata-san?"

His decision to use her name was a simple one, she was already questioning her worth but by calling her by her own unique name he was subtly showing her that she was important, that she was special.

"No, Karasu-sensei, I don't," the young Hyuga answered and sunk even more into herself.

He chuckled and said, "Nor do I."

She looked up at him with surprise in her eyes.

"What? Did you honestly think that I knew how to do that?"

Her cheeks grew red with embarrassment.

"You think very highly of me," he remarked. "Wanna know something else? I don't know how to identify medicinal herbs and I haven't the foggiest on how to actually make a healing salve. You, however, do."

She squirmed under his full attention and replied, "It's nothing, really."

"Truly?" he questioned. "Well then, I'll just go tell Sarutobi-san, Nara-san, and Kakashi that you helping to save their lives was nothing. I'll also let them know that you being the only one of the group to know how to create healing salve is an entirely worthless skill and that they should forget about the aid you provided them."

She didn't say anything. Perhaps it was because of the revealed importance of her knowledge or being told that she had helped save their lives that held her tongue but for the time being she only stated at him with a mixture of nervousness, confusion, and a small amount of pride.

"I don't know how to create a healing salve," Yuri continued, "but that doesn't make me useless, weak, or pathetic. It is simply a skill that I don't have, exactly the same as your lack of knowledge in the Academy Style. Lacking knowledge or abilities is nothing to be ashamed of. All it means is that you have an area that you need to work on."

"But," she finally said, "I'm not as strong as everyone else. My little sister can beat me in a spar, that's how weak I am. How pathetic I am."

Yuri sat down next to a tree and said, "Let me tell you a secret, Hinata-san. If you fought against me when I was your age you would wiped the floor with me."

Her eyes widened and she stuttered, "But you're so strong now."

"Not nearly strong enough, I'm afraid." He shook his head and said, "The biggest difference between you and me isn't our skills or our determination, it is our thoughts."

"Our...thoughts?"

"Yes. Even after being destroyed in every spar I participated in, even after being called useless by everyone around me, even after graduating from my Academy class as the weakest of the group I never once thought that I was useless or pathetic. I had big dreams as a kid and I worked hard to reach them. I spent many hours training alone and I often worked myself so hard that I would pass-out in the middle of the field only to wake up the next morning and begin training again. I thought that I was going to be someone and worked with that goal in mind."

He looked at her and said, "Our thoughts can act as self-fulfilling prophecies. Wants, needs, desires, all of these are thoughts in our minds and it is these thoughts that drive us, that make us who we are today. I wanted to be great and it was that thought that drove me to becoming who I am today. Tell me, Hinata-san, what do you want to be?"

She hesitated but answered, "I want to become a kunoichi that my father will be proud of."

"Good, that's a good want."

"But he always tells me-"

"Words only hurt us if we let them, Hinata-san," Yuri interrupted. "Sure, your father's words will hold more weight than others but they are only words and words can be deceiving. You mentioned that your little sister always beats you in spars, tell me about that."

"We spar at least three times a week and Hinabi-chan is amazing at the Juken. Otou-sama makes use spar but...I can't bring myself to hurt my little sister."

Yuri frowned, "If you think going easy on your sister and allowing her to get an inflated ego is helping her then you have a strange sense of aid, Hinata-san. All you're doing is helping her die."

"W-what!?" she gasped.

"A spar is supposed to be the closest thing to actual combat that a shinobi can take place in and going easy on your partner is exactly the same as lying to them and telling them that they are better than what they really are. It is during spars that a shinobi learns how to take a hit, how to fight through pain, and how to fight against an opponent who is just as strong or stronger than them. My rule for spars is simple: besides killing or permanent injuries anything is allowed."

"Now, that is enough of that," he said and stood up. "Since you are still a low to mid Genin I'm not going to be teaching you elemental manipulation and your chakra control must be near perfect since you're a Hyuga so I'm going to teach you a new taijutsu."

"But the Juken-"

"Can be beaten and, if it is, you will need something else to fall back on. Now, we will spar for a few minutes so that I can gauge your skill and we will take it from there."

He waited for the young Hyuga to enter her Juken stance and then attacked. He pressed her and he was impressed with her flexibility and the quick thinking she showed. He backed off slightly and allowed her to attack and her biggest weakness was revealed. Hinata was gentle and timid by nature, there was no changing that, and her attacks reflected it. They were soft, fast, and predictable. He allowed her to push him back a little more and stopped the spar.

"Very good, Hinata-san. I am incredibly impressed," he praised and with how the girl flushed he knew that it was one of the few compliments that she might have gained in her life. "Your skill with the Juken is exceptional for one your age."

She looked down and a smile, a true smile, crossed her face.

"Don't look down," Yuri said. She hesitated but eventually moved her eyes to meet his. "What you lack most is confidence and we have already discussed how to fix that but there is another trick you can use to help."

"A trick?" she asked.

He nodded. "When talking to someone, never look away from their eyes. You will feel uncomfortable the first many times you do this but it will make you appear more confident to the other person and, in turn, they will treat you as if you have more confidence than you actually are. Also, consciously slow your breathing. If you come off as calm and relaxed it goes a long ways in appearing confident."

Hinata took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You don't need to change who you are, Hinata-san, and I would never ask you to do that. You are, by nature, a shy person but when it matters I do want you to act as if you are in control of everything you do. Got it?"

"Hai," she said and a hint of relief flashed in her eyes.

He smiled and rose to his feet. "Good. Lets move to the taijutsu that I want to teach you. As a Genin, the vast majority of your fighting will be physical so it is good to have a strong taijutsu base. Your exceptional in your flexibility and speed but lacking in strength but this isn't a bad thing nor a good thing. That's just how it is.

"The style that I will be teaching you has only one kata. It has no attacks and it's only purpose is to evade an opponent. It is called, Yugana Suteppu, and is completely made up of fast movements and flowing jumps. The entire point of this taijutsu is to outmaneuver your opponent however with the combination of your Byakugan and some added touches of the Juken it has the potential to become something unique and powerful."

The navy-haired girl gave him a confused look and asked, "You know the Juken?"

"No," he answered. "It will be up to you to create this new style but I have faith that you will be able to pull it off. Now, lets begin."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Yuri, Hinata, and Tazuna arrived back at the old man's house a little after noon. The workmen were taking a lunch break and Tazuna wanted to return to his home before construction began again. The young Hyuga's training had gone well and she was learning the Yugana Suteppu as fast as he expected and figured that she would have the kata down in a little under a week's time. The hardest and most frustrating part for her would be adding the Juken into it. His Hinata had never done such a thing and the idea of doing it had come to him as a whim. He honestly had no idea how the new form of taijutsu would hold up in a battle but from what he could envision it had the potential of becoming something great.

The black-haired Jonin saw Naruto and Sakura standing on top of the water while the other Genin tried to get their feet under them. It didn't surprise him in the least that the pink-haired girl had already gotten water walking down and Naruto, well he had already taught him how to do it. Having Genin who had only recently gotten out of the Academy work on water walking was unheard of but with the situation that they were in the unheard of was something that would have to be ignored.

He watched the Genin as they struggled to stand and fell into the water. They would be great, better than their counterparts from his timeline, he would make damn sure of it. He would give each of them the nudges that they needed to get serious about being shinobi and he would provide them with the tools that would allow them to gain strength that they wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

He mused if what he was doing was playing Kami, changing the outcome of this timeline but he shook his head and steeled his determination. He didn't really care for the answer of the question as it wouldn't affect what he was doing and what he would do. The timeline had become unique the very moment he had arrived and there was nothing he could do to change that.

"Kami, damn it!" the familiar voice of Sasuke echoed over the water.

Yuri looked to the boy and found that he had fallen into the water. He had a very introverted personality but when he grew frustrated or angry he would often vent his anger on those around him.

"You have to change the amount of chakra to compensate for the changing of the pressure of the water," Naruto said as he offered his hand to the other boy.

Sasuke shot a glare at the blonde and growled, "You've said that before but that doesn't help me!"

"Try again, Sasuke," Naruto said and shook his hand a little.

"What's the point!" the boy barked back. "You're not helping me and just keep repeating yourself. Forget this, I'll figure it out on my own!"

Sasuke swam quickly back to shore and stormed off to the other side of the house. Naruto frowned and he went after the black-haired boy Yuri called out, "Stop, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto looked over at the Jonin, a displeased look on his face, and waved.

"Control your emotions and go aid the others," Yuri said. "I'll speak with Uchiha-san. Also, be prepared to come to the bridge with Tazuna and myself after lunch. We will be the evening protection."

The blonde nodded and went over to the other Genin without argument. The others were getting the exercise better than Sasuke and he understood why. Sasuke had more chakra than any of the Genin currently trying to learn the exercise, with the only possible exception being Choji, and as such he was going to have the hardest time getting the exercise down pat.

"Karasu-san," Kurenai called and waved from the dock.

Yuri departed from Tazuna, ordered Hinata to join the other Genin, and went to stand beside the red-eyed Jonin. He nodded to one of his clones that stood next to her and it disappeared. He gained the memories of the clone and those of two others and found out that the Genin had done some sparring and some worked with tree walking before they moved to water walking. It wasn't a terrible idea to have them do a little tree walking as it allowed them to focus on controlling and feeling their chakra and he approved of the idea.

"How did things go with Hinata?" Kurenai asked with a hint of eagerness.

Yuri looked at the girl who was walking on the water perfectly. He had expected this as good chakra control was necessary for the Juken to be used effectively but was happy to see that she had moved to help the other Genin who struggled with it. She looked down for a split second but then looked over to him. He smiled at her and she gave him a somewhat confident nod. She looked into Ino's eyes as she help the girl stand and started to give her hints and explanations about how to perform the exercise.

"Things went well," he said simply. "I have her learning a new taijutsu-"

"What?" Kurenai interrupted him. She looked at him, aghast, and asked, "Why would you do that? The Hyuga are extraordinarily strict when it comes to their clan members and taijutsu. She's going to get into trouble if they find out about this."

Yuri tilted his head to the side and asked, "Why should I care what the Hyuga think?"

"It's not you I'm worried about, it's Hinata. She already has issues with her father," she explained, "and this will only go to make him more angry with her."

"She mentioned her relationship with her father briefly but I think that her learning this new taijutsu will be less trouble for her and more for me."

She gave him a puzzled look and asked, "How do you figure that?"

"Just a feeling, really," he muttered.

In all actuality he knew exactly why it would be trouble for him. The Hiashi he knew had been more concerned about his daughter's safety than he ever let on and he showed little approval to make her work harder. It had backfired on him but he had pressed on with it in hopes that the girl would quit being a shinobi on her own. It would look bad for the main branch of the Hyuga clan but he was a man who cared more for his family than what the other members of his clan thought. He came off as a hard a cruel man but under it all had been a father who had desperately wanted to protect his children and didn't know how. The man would come to him as soon as he heard that he had been the one to teach the young Hyuga her the new taijutsu and that would be an interesting conversation to say the least.

He changed the subject and asked, "Was Sasuke getting frustrated from the start?"

"Hai," she replied. "The others were getting headway right from the get go but he was having trouble with just being able to stand. As it is, he has only been able to stand for five seconds before he falls but then you should know this from your clone's memories."

"The memories I gain from clones are strange things, like being in two places at once. I can't recall being at the bridge without also recalling being here instructing the Genin as well. Sometimes just a little clarification is nice to have," he explained.

"Sounds odd," she muttered.

He nodded his head slowly. "I'll go speak with Sasuke. Think you can manage here?"

The raven-haired beauty smirked and said, "I have the Genin helping each other to form better bonds. I'm just here to make sure none of them drown."

He grinned and left her and the Genin. He went around the house and saw the Uchiha standing in the shallows. He had a look of anger and frustration on his face as he lifted one of his feet from the water and placed it slowing down. It held and he slowly placed pressure on it until his other foot was out of the water but just as he set his other foot down he fell into the water.

He rose, cursing and angrier than he had been originally.

"Uchiha-san," Yuri said. He had closed the distance between them and could hear the boy's heavy breathing.

Sasuke shot a glare at him and snapped, "What do you want!?"

Yuri frowned and unleashed a slight amount of killing intent. "Get over here," he said and pointed to the grass near him. "Now."

The boy hesitated but eventually pulled himself from the water and walked over to Yuri. He looked down at the ground, never once matching the black-haired Jonin's heavy gaze.

Yuri sat down on the grass but didn't indicate for Sasuke to do the same. He studied the Uchiha for a moment and finally said, "You're angry. Why?"

Sasuke looked at him, his eyes full of impatience, furry, and a slight amount of embarrassment. "I can't get this stupid exercise!" he snapped. "Everyone else is getting somewhere but I can't even stand. Sakura got it right away, Naruto already knew it, and I was having the most trouble with it out of everyone here. I tried asking Naruto for tips but he just kept repeating the same thing over and over again. You told me that friends were going to make me stronger but as it is I'm better off figuring this out by myself."

The Genin had gotten his breathing under control by the time he finished his rant and Yuri didn't say anything as the boy talked. Sometimes a good rant was what someone needed to calm down.

Yuri didn't say anything for a little, just incase Sasuke wanted to add something and when it was apparent that he had said his piece Yuri said, "You disappoint me, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he took a step back. "What did I do? I tried to figure it out with Naruto but he just said the same thing. If it didn't help the first time why would it suddenly make sense the second or third time?"

"Sit down, Sasuke-san." The boy did, albeit slowly. "Calm yourself. I'm disappointed in how easily you allowed yourself to lose control. That outburst was completely uncalled for and the mounting anger and frustration that you didn't handle responsibly only made it more difficult for you to perform the water walking exercise."

"But-"

"We are taking this one thing at a time, Sasuke-san," Yuri said sternly. He watched the boy and when he was sure that he wouldn't interrupt again, he continued. "As a shinobi, you must always be aware of and in control of your emotions but just because I say that doesn't mean I don't understand how frustrating it can be to not figure something out as fast as others. It can be infuriating and it is a frustration that I am personally familiar with."

Sasuke sighed and asked, "How do you deal with it, Yuri-sensei?"

"I keep constant awareness of my emotions. You must know when you have gotten too frustrated to continue with your training and you must know that taking a break or a step back isn't a bad thing. I've seen people work themselves to the bone to try to understand a new jutsu and they sometimes have gotten very upset while doing so. The funny thing about them is that it is only when they calm down that they notice that they were doing something wrong or they notice a trick that they had missed. Anger and frustration are not necessarily bad things but too much of them can mess with your thinking and make you miss things that might be very apparent. Do you understand what it is I'm telling you?"

"You're telling me that I have to have better control of my emotions. I-I can't let my anger control me," he answered slowly. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I feel foolish for letting that happen."

"As you should," Yuri stated.

Sasuke smirked. Yuri knew that the boy liked it when people were honest with him, it was the reason him and Naruto got along so well. He was used to people telling him how strong and great he was for being the best of the Academy class but what he really wanted was someone to tell him how things were.

"Now that we've covered that we can move on to what you said about friends. You said that you're better off figuring this out by yourself and there is a ring of truth to that. There are times when you just need to work something out by yourself and there are also times when you understand it better if you do it alone. But, I ask you, how much of what you know about being a shinobi was taught to you?"

Sasuke thought about it and said, "The majority, I guess."

"Exactly," the Jonin said. "I don't want you getting into the mindset that you are better off alone as that is a path that will only make you weak and foolish. Alone, you would never have been taught the majority of what you know and almost the entirety of your strength and abilities would be gone as well. We rely on others more than you might think. You rely on your sensei to teach you how to become a better shinobi, you rely on your friends to help you in battle and to push you to get stronger, you rely on a blacksmith to make your weapons, and you rely on farmers to grow your food. We are all interconnected in some form or another and to think that you can go about your life with only your own strength and abilities is the epitome of foolishness. In all honesty, you are never really alone."

"I...never really thought about it like that," the boy said.

"Looking at it this way, you could have asked Sakura, Kurenai, or even my clones to help you," he said.

Sasuke bowed his head slightly.

"Now, to the last thing that we need to talk about," Yuri said. "Tell me, what troubles are you having with water walking?"

The boy looked at him with a grateful look and said, "I'm having trouble figuring out how to change my chakra quickly enough to match that of the changing of the water pressure."

"Ah, that is the hardest part about it."

"Naruto tried explaining it but I just don't understand what he means since he is telling me something that I already know."

Yuri nodded and said, "You understand the mechanics well enough, Sasuke-san, so there is nothing I can tell you there." Sasuke's face fell and Yuri spoke before he could, "But I do know what the problem is."

"What is it?" the Genin asked with slight hope in his voice.

"Of all the Genin learning this exercise, with the exception of one, you have, by far, the most chakra. Because of this, it will be much harder for you to get a hang of this exercise. You can understand how to do it but now you have to get your body and mind to do it unconsciously. Changing the amount of chakra that you're emitting is a simple thing but it is very difficult to do it quickly and it is one of the hardest things a Genin must learn how to do. With the amount of chakra you have, it is like controlling the flow of a river compared to the other's streams. It will naturally be more difficult for you to do and you must remain calm and take it slowly.

"My advise to you is this. Meditate on what we have talked about and when you feel calm and in control I want you to sit on the dock and place only your feet into the water. When you have gotten that down you can start adding more and more weight. Doing it this way will allow you to concentrate more and will be less frustrating because you won't be getting soaked every time you mess up. Remain calm and I have faith that you can do it."

Sasuke smiled and said, "Thank you, Yuri-sensei." He thought about something and asked, "Why are you calling me 'Sasuke-san' now?"

"If it bothers you, I can always start calling you 'Uchiha-san' again," Yuri said as he stood.

"I don't mind." He paused and said, "I should apologize to Naruto, shouldn't I?"

"That is your decision, Sasuke-san, but I've always found that apologies are painless ways to build bridges. Good luck and grab some food after you've finished meditating."

The boy closed his eyes and his breathing started to become more controlled and longer. Yuri watched him for a moment and left. He found that the Genin had gone inside for food and Kakashi was sitting on the dock with a full plate next to him.

"Eat before you go back to the bridge," the silver-haired man said.

Yuri sat down next him and began to eat the offered food. "We should think about increasing the number of Jonin going to the bridge in about five days. They should be ready to attack at the earliest then."

"Agreed," Kakashi said. "Sasuke had an outburst from what I hear."

"Hai, but I handled it. We all get frustrated sometimes."

The man glanced at him and said, "I've been thinking of a way to bring out his Sharingan but it won't be the nicest of things to do."

"I can't imagine it will," Yuri agreed. "But if it did manifest it would be a good boost to his fighting ability. I'm not sure it would be of any benefit in the battle to come but if bandits show up it would be good for him to have. What did you have in mind?"

Kakashi told him his idea and when Yuri considered it he could see how it might work. It would be risky in the area of mental trauma to the boy but if he consented it would be at least worth attempting. Sasuke was strong and Yuri knew that he would pull through.

"Yuri-sensei," the voice of one Naruto Uzumaki rang from behind the two Jonin and they looked to see the blonde and the bridge builder waiting at the end of the dock.

Yuri set his now empty plate down and said, "Start feeling better, Kakashi."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Naruto was tense all throughout the walk to the bridge. This was his first serious mission, his first serious assignment, and he wasn't going to mess anything up. He watched Yuri scanning their surroundings and did the same. Kakashi and Yuri's ambush training had taught him what to look for and he studied the trees around them closely for potential threats.

They made it to the bridge with no issues and Yuri and he went to the side of the bridge where the grass was short and the trees were a little ways off.

"Naruto-san," Yuri said and the blonde was slightly surprised that the man had used his name.

"Hai," he responded.

His sensei walked to a tree and sat down next to it. "I would like to talk to you about your teaching of Sasuke-san."

"The bastard got mad at me for no reason," Naruto said and was surprised at his sudden anger. "All I did was try to help him and he just snapped at me."

"I understand that and I'm not saying that you have done anything wrong but teaching can be a difficult thing and I want to explain something to you for when you begin teaching others."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What, did I do something wrong? I explained it the way you did."

"And I'm not saying you did," Yuri said. "However, there is a lesson that you would do well in learning. You explained to Sasuke how to do the water walking exercise the way I explained it to you and yet he voiced that he didn't understand. So, I'm curious, why didn't you explain it a different way?"

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked, confused. "The way you explained it worked perfectly for me."

Yuri smiled and said, "Allow me to explain in a different way. Look at that tree," he pointed to one near them. "At the very top of that tree is a leaf called Leaf-san. Could you please explain to Leaf-san how he should get to the ground."

Naruto was completely bewildered as to why Yuri was having him do such a strange thing but the man had never done something without purpose so he decided to play along. "I would tell Leaf-san to fall and that he would reach the ground that way."

"Alright, so Leaf-san falls," the Jonin said, "but as he falls he runs into a branch. Leaf-san is confused. You told him all he had to do is fall and that he would reach the ground but now he is stuck in a branch."

"Well, Leaf-san needs to get out of that branch."

"Leaf-san is overjoyed at your instruction and jumps out of the branch. He falls but, this time, he is taken by the wind and is wrapped around a branch. Leaf-san is shocked by this. He did everything you told him. He fell and he jumped but now he is stuck again."

Naruto scratched his head. He had no idea where Yuri was going with this and it was kind of humorous hearing his sensei talk about the leaf in a monotone voice. He realized that Yuri was waiting for his instruction and he said, "Leaf-san needs to unwrap himself from the branch."

"Leaf-san does this and starts to fall again. However, he finds another branch in his way. You never said anything about what he is supposed to do in this situation and crashes into it."

"He should have avoided it."

Yuri smirked and said, "Now hold on, Naruto-san, I have a question. Why didn't you give any of these instructions to Leaf-san before he even started falling?"

"Because I thought he would know what to do as he was falling. It is plain logic that, if you wanted to reach the ground, you would avoid the branches and watch out for the wind." He paused and a light bulb went off in his head.

"I take it you understand now?"

Naruto nodded slowly. He had been so stupid. The answer had been right in front of him the entire time and he had been unable to see it. "Just because I think something, may it be instructions or something that I am working on myself, is simple to understand doesn't mean that others will think the same. "

"So, in the case of Sasuke-san," Yuri said leadingly.

"I should have asked him what the problem he was having was and then figure out a way to answer it."

"Very good, Naruto-san. Everyone understands things differently and it is up to the sensei to figure out a way to explain things in a way that the students will understand. But, in the same regard, everyone hits branches and a unique explanation must be given to them for them to understand."

The blonde nodded and said, "I understand now." He looked Yuri in the eyes and said, "Being a sensei is hard."

"That it is, that it is," the Jonin said.

A loud noise drew their attention to the bridge and they saw that some steel beams had fallen to the ground. The workers scrambled to clean up the mess and make sure it didn't happen again.

"Yuri-sensei," Naruto questioned, "why don't we help them?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you or Kakashi-sensei must have a jutsu that can help them finish that bridge faster," he said and pointed toward the bridge.

Yuri sighed and said, "We could but we can't."

"Why not? Wouldn't finishing the bridge for them make their lives easier? If you can help, shouldn't you?" Naruto asked.

"It would but this isn't our fight. We were hired to protect Tazuna and that is what we are doing. That bridge is the way the people of Wave are fighting against oppression. I could use a doton jutsu that would rise the earth from the water and finish that bridge now if I wanted but if I did that then the people of Wave would suffer for it. All actions have consequences, some good and some bad. Yes, by finishing the bridge the suffering would stop sooner but they will also not learn to depend on themselves. If I don't allow them to fight this battle alone, to build this bridge with their own strength, then I will be stealing away their confidence in their ability to fix their own problems. They will become dependent on others and they will be taken advantage of in the end. I want to help, Naruto-san. With every fiber of my being, I want to help but this is a battle that they must fight alone."

"But why?"

"Imagine if you were fighting a battle," Yuri said. "Imagine if I, during your battle, killed your opponent and didn't let you fight it with all your strength and heart. What would you think of your skills?"

Naruto rubbed his chin and answered slowly, "I would begin to doubt my abilities. I would question how strong I really was and my confidence would dwindle." He looked up and said, "I see what you mean but I don't like it, Yuri-sensei. I have the strength to help them, I want to help them, but, from what you said, I can't. That really calls into question what it is I fight for. I want to fight, to grow stronger, so that others don't have too but if I can't help with other's battles then what is the point?"

Yuri's eyes locked onto his for a moment and Naruto thought he saw a hint of sorrow in them. Did his sensei understand the internal battle that waged in him? He had thought he knew what it was he wanted to fight for but now he had begun to question it. He wanted to fight so that others didn't have too but with Yuri telling him that the people of Wave had to fight this one on their own made him question his conviction and doubt his reason for fighting.

"One of the hardest things a shinobi will struggle with is finding a purpose for growing stronger," Yuri said softly. "You want to fight and grow stronger so that others don't have to and, while that is a noble and compassionate reason, it is ultimately selfish."

"What do you mean?"

"If you fought every battle for everyone then none would have the chance to grow stronger, to gain confidence in their skills and in themselves. It is easy to fight battles for others, Naruto-san, but it is very difficult to know when all you can do is stand and watch. You can lend your voice, encourage them, teach them, but in the end they must fight their own battles. To say that you want to fight other's battles for them is to say that you don't want to take the hard road and allow the person to stand on their own two feet. This doesn't mean you should allow the other to die in their battle but you must let them fight till they have shown the world their resolve."

Naruto looked down. Had he been so selfish? He had thought that fighting for others was a good and proud reason to fight but Yuri had just told him that it was selfish, that he was, in other words, not allowing others to grow in their own strength. He, now that his conviction was put into a new light, had wanted to be a crutch for everyone to lean against and while that wasn't necessarily a bad thing it did have unintended consequences.

"Then...what is it I should fight for?" Naruto whispered.

He had struggled with this problem ever since Ayame had asked him what he wanted to grow stronger for. He wanted to protect others, he wanted to be a shield for the innocent, but he, at the same time, wanted others to grow under their own strength and efforts, not his. He tried to put it into words, what it was he wanted, but nothing he thought of sounded right. He would analyze it and find some way it was flawed or could be manipulated to mean something that he didn't want.

Naruto rubbed his chin. Perhaps he was thinking about this too hard. He was having trouble with putting his conviction into words so why didn't he just get rid of the words? He thought about that. He knew what he wanted to do but he also knew what had to be done. He couldn't protect everyone, nor should he since, by doing so, he would be hurting those he wanted to protect. He also wouldn't allow others to die in their battles if he could help them.

On a more complicated and philosophical note, he didn't want his conviction to be twisted but the only way that could happen was if he put words to what he fought for. Not putting words to it freed him to fight for what was fair and just while at the same time allowed him to do what he felt was the best option. Words wouldn't be able to stop him because his conviction was more than just words. It was the way he wanted to live, the reasons he wanted to fight, his purpose for growing ever stronger.

"I-" he started to say but stopped. He swallowed and said again, "I will fight for my own convictions. I can't and won't put them into words because to do so would weaken and limit them. Words can be twisted but my convictions can hold strong against the strongest of onslaughts."

The sound of the working men quietly took over the air. Yuri didn't say anything and Naruto had began to worry that he had said something wrong. He reevaluated his thoughts and found that they held to his reasoning but what if Yuri had seen something he didn't?

A faint chuckle filled the air and a small, soft smile graced Yuri's face. The man looked at Naruto with pride in his eyes and he said, "Very good, Naruto-san."

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

A mist fell over the woods and droplets of water began to form on the many leaves and branches of the forest. The black-haired man didn't move and he could feel water begin to stick to him. Soon, little drops of water began to run down his arms and face, tickling him as they went along their course, but he didn't move to wipe them away.

Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, was thinking. Perhaps thinking wasn't the correct word but it was the one he had settled on when his mind went down the course it did. He had been one of the seven strongest shinobi of Kiri, not including the Mizukage, before he had attempted a coup d'etat. He had done unspeakable things in his life and it was when he had met Haku that he began to think about things in a different light. He could finally see the destruction of Kiri in the future, the slaughter of its people, and he knew that he had to try to stop it. He had failed, of course, but he would be damned he didn't try again.

He had become a mercenary to gain the funds to stage a larger coup and he had almost reached his goal. This would be his final mission but it left a disgusting taste in his mouth. He fought to save Kiri from a tyrant, yet here he was placing Wave under the control of another. He beat the thoughts down and promised that when Kiri was at last free he would return and save Wave. It wasn't the best of options but Kiri came first.

The mission would have been simple if not for the involvement of the Konoha shinobi, which had taken him by surprise. He didn't want to kill them, which was why he had beaten Asuma Sarutobi so severely but the man just wouldn't leave. He had to respect the man's resolve to stand and fight a battle he knew he would lose but if he had just left with his Genin then everything would have been over by now. Instead, more Konoha shinobi showed up and had pushed him and his comrades back, severely injuring him in the process.

He had decided that they would have to kill the Konoha shinobi. It would make political meetings with the village tense after the coup but he had to if he wanted to save Kiri. Sacrifices had to be made.

He shot his eyes to his left, not moving his body an inch, and focused his hearing. The sounds of heavy foot falls and leaves brushing against each other could be heard and two minutes later a man emerged from the forest and into the clearing that the building that Zabuza and his company were staying in.

The man was huge for a shinobi. Standing at well over six feet, barrel chested, legs as thick as a tree trunk, and with arms bigger than Zabuza's thighs the man was more suited to be a bandit than a shinobi but Zabuza knew his skills. Thick brown hair went down to the man's shoulders and a large beard covered his face. His brown eyes were alight with humor and a general love for life. Heavy metal armor with scratches and gouges from previous battles donned the man and he looked so far from a shinobi that Zabuza still had a hard time believing it, but looks could be deceiving.

"Har har har," the man laughed loudly. "About time I got here."

"You're late, Tsuyo," Zabuza muttered.

The man waved a hand, his armor clanking as he did. "Now, don't be like that. I'm here ain't I?" Tsuyo looked him up and down, taking in the many bandages that covered him. His eyes lost their happiness and took on a more serious look. "What happened?"

"Konoha shinobi. Four Jonin and nine Genin. The Jonin are Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Kakashi Hatake, and some other guy I didn't recognize from the Bingo Books."

The man nodded slowly and said, "Then things have taken a more serious turn. Perhaps it would be better to abandon this job."

"We can't do that. Gato is paying too much to do that. After this mission we will have enough to return to Kiri and this time succeed in a coup. Kiri can't afford to wait any longer."

"So you would trade one tyrant for another here?"

Zabuza snarled and snapped, "Damn it, Tsuyo, what choice do I have? The longer we wait the more people that die in Kiri."

"And if we put Gato in charge here then the people of Wave will die too," the large man countered.

"We've discussed this before."

Tsuyo sighed heavily and said, "I am willing to follow you, Zabuza, but this isn't the way to do it. However, as I see that you haven't changed your mind in the two weeks I've been gone I'll drop the issue."

The man pounded over to Zabuza, his massive maul clattering against his back. He sat down next to the man and the two didn't speak for some time.

Finally, as the sun was setting, Tsuyo said, "I have a salve that will help you wounds."

"Haku already treated us," the swordsman returned.

"With the pathetic herbs that grow here?" the man asked. He laughed loudly and said, "What I have is made from the herbs of the Fresho Gardens in Kumo."

"Truly?" Zabuza asked, his curiosity perked. "Where did you get something like that?"

"From gambling of course," the man said and laughed. "I accepted it as payment from Tsunade of the Sannin who owed me quite a hefty sum of money."

Zabuza smirked behind his bandages. "A shame that she inadvertently worked against Konoha by doing so. How soon will we be in fighting order with that?"

"Four days."

* * *

Until next time...  
-Unbiased Abyss


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto took a deep breath of the foggy morning air as he stepped out of Tazuna's home. He had gotten up early, eaten breakfast with Yuri and Kakashi, and was excited to get started on training. His fight with the trench-coat wearing Katsutoshi Nagashi had shown him where he stood in the world of shinobi and he had a long ways to go before he was able to stand beside Yuri or Kakashi in a battle. For now, he would only prove to get in their way and he understood that.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on creating some kage bunshin. He could make them easily enough with the hand seal and saying the name of the jutsu but Yuri had urged him to start practicing making them without either and it was far more difficult than Naruto had thought it would be. He paid special attention to the flow of his chakra and the amount he was using as he formed the jutsu. It was slow going and ten minutes later he heard the satisfying pops of clones appearing and opened his eyes. Thirty clones had been created, ten less than what he was going for, and he closed his eyes again to concentrate. Ten more minutes passed and this time he made nine of them.

He huffed and quickly made another clone with the hand signs and then gave them their assignments. Ten would work on chakra control by walking on the water while holding a leaf on their forehead. It sounded like an easy exercise but having to split one's concentration from keeping a continuous flow of chakra in one place and constantly changing it in another made it very difficult to do. Twenty more would be dedicated to perfecting his form with both his taijutsu styles. Since that was all muscle memory he could use his clones to learn it but he would be taking care of the physical portion of the training while they worked. The last ten he had work on fine-tuning his reflexes which was done by nine of them throwing kunai and shuriken at the odd clone out.

He watched the clones go about their tasks and started to stretch his muscles. He had complained to Yuri when the man first brought up stretching. With his healing ability he didn't have to worry about hurting himself too badly but the man had sat him down and explained that stretching would help him become more flexible. He had grumbled afterwords but now never failed to stretch before working out.

He had just pulled his right arm over his chest when someone behind him asked, "Mind if I join you?"

Naruto turned around and was surprised to find Ino walking down the dock towards him. The mist had cleared somewhat and the sunlight that managed to pierce through made her hair shine a brilliant gold. Her blue eyes were focused on him and a pleasant smile graced her face.

"I'm going to be doing some physical work, you sure you're up for that?" Naruto asked as he pulled a little more on his arm.

Ino pulled her arm over her chest and shot him a confident smirk. "Try to keep up, Blondie."

Naruto tilted his head and commented, "You know you have blonde hair too, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

He smiled and shook his head. The duo stretched in silence for the most part with only a few moments of explanation on how to correctly do a stretch. It was nice to have another person to train with, even if there was no talking going on.

They finished stretching fifteen minutes later and Naruto looked at Ino and asked, "Are you ready for a run?"

Slight confusion entered her eyes and she asked, "A run? Can we really run far enough to get anything out of it?"

"Ah, I forgot. You don't have training weights, do you?" She shook her head and he said, "Go ask Sakura if you can borrow her's for the rest of the workout. She'll get you set up with the proper weight and everything."

Ino nodded and went inside. Naruto took the opportunity to wonder why the blonde girl had taken the sudden interest in training with him. He barely knew the Yanamaka and she him and as far as he remembered she was into Sasuke. Yet, she had been the one to come to him so she must have wanted something that involved him. He thought about that and realized that she more than likely wanted to talk to him about his protecting her during the battle two days ago.

The door opened and Ino came out with the addition of training weights strapped to her forearms and legs. The weights were flattened metal that could be added to leather bands that were wrapped around the arms and legs. The leather was black and the bands were made to not get in the way or inconvenience the shinobi that wore them and as such the bands were made very thin.

Ino lifted her arms a few times and asked, "Sakura really trains with these things on?"

Naruto smirked and waved for his fellow blonde to run with him. He ran along the shore for a few minutes and turned into the forest. The course he was running was the one that Kurenai had shown the Genin the previous day. It wasn't the longest thing in the world but it was safe and Naruto planned on doing about ten laps. He emerged from the forest near the house and turned down the shore once again.

He was impressed with Ino and her determination. It was her first time working with the training weights but she managed to get through five laps before she started to slow. Her breath was coming out in quick breaths and Naruto kept an eye on her as he slowed his pace. Kakashi had given a lecture on not pushing one's self too hard in physical activities because of the risk of overdoing it. He said that the typical results were extreme muscle pain the day after or pulling or tearing a muscle or tendon but the most severe of results was oxygen deprivation. If the body wasn't conditioned enough for the activity that was being done then it would demand more oxygen than the lungs could provide. If this happened then the person would suffer from something similar to an asthma attack. Struggling to breath, the feeling of suffocation, and panic were common symptoms.

Naruto took in Ino's condition and called for a stop. She hunched over, her breaths were quick and short, and her face looked pained. She went down to a knee and brought a hand to her chest as she tried to suck in a breath but ended up coughing it out. Her body was demanding oxygen and she couldn't get her breathing under enough control to provide the needed air efficiently.

"Foolish girl," he muttered and hurried over to her.

He sank down next to a tree and pulled her back to his chest. He brought in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Copy my breathing, Ino."

In. Out.

"You need to calm down and take deep breaths."

In. Out.

She leaned heavily into his chest and struggled to gain control of her lungs. After her third attempt she managed to get a nice long breath in and coughed it out a few seconds later. Another breath and this time no coughing as it came out.

The two sat together for a few minutes and when Ino was confident that she had her breathing under control she asked, "What happened?"

Naruto explained and the female Genin looked down as he spoke. Naruto was sure Ino felt embarrassed that something like that had happened to her and he said, "Don't punish yourself over this, Ino. Take it as a lesson. Your body will tell you when it has had enough and you just need to listen to it. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you need to take a quick break from time to time."

Ino nodded and didn't say something for a moment. After about five minutes she finally asked, "Why are we sitting like this, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled and said, "It was something that Yuri-sensei told my team and myself to do if something like this were to happen. If there is nothing else that can be done then hold the person who if having trouble breathing with their back against your chest and breath the way they should. It will act as a tell for the person's body and will help regulate the other's breathing."

"Huh," she grunted. "To think you, of all people, would actually learn something."

Naruto chuckled. He hadn't seen Ino since the graduation so he couldn't expect her to think of him any differently but he did get the feeling that she was just teasing him.

He looked up at the trees around them and asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

She stiffened and then relaxed. "So I've been found out. How long did you know that I wanted to talk to you?"

"When you were in getting Sakura's weights," he answered. "I figured that since we barely knew each other in the Academy then there could be only one reason you would want to train with me, you wanted to talk. Going off of that it was easy to figure that you wanted to talk about the battle."

He felt Ino nod. "Yeah," she muttered. "I...wanted to thank you. Choji told me what happened and I can't help but feel responsible. I mean, I didn't even do anything. All I did was pass out from this strange pressure coming off of one of the enemy shinobi."

"The pressure is called killing intent," Naruto said, "and you shouldn't feel bad about passing out from it. I've gone under training to increase my tolerance to it and I still had a hard time dealing with it. I imagine that it was your first time feeling it and every person reacts differently."

"But my passing out put you and the rest in a bad position."

Naruto frowned and said, "True, but it can't be helped. Don't think about what could have been in the battle. It has already passed and there is nothing that you can change, what has happened has happened. Instead, use the experience as motivation to never be helpless in a battle again."

The birds started to sing their songs and the two Genin went quiet. A few minutes passed and Ino said softly, "Thanks, Naruto."

He smiled and stood, helping the other blonde up as he did. They started walking back and Ino started to complain about her muscles burning. He laughed and replied, "I'm not surprised. You overworked yourself and now are feeling the repercussions. Explain what happened to Kurenai-sensei and ask if you can rest while the rest of us are doing our physical exercises."

"What about you?" she asked. "You ran the same amount as me so you have to be in some kind of pain."

"I've been working out regularly for about two months now," he explained. "For that and another reason it will take a heck of a lot more for me to start to feel any burn in my muscles."

"Oh, right. Your healing ability. You mentioned that it was more of a curse for you than anything earlier, what did you mean by that?"

He thought about how to answer Ino's question. Her curiosity was innocent enough but if she knew what she was asking him than she might have thought better of asking the question. He had known about the Kyubi for about two months now but the knowledge of him containing the great beast hadn't gotten easier to handle. He couldn't talk to anyone else about it because they wouldn't have any idea what he was going through. As much as he wanted to talk to Yuri or Kakashi about his burden he didn't want to worry them nor burden them with his problem. Besides, neither of them could understand what it was like to house a monstrous demon inside them.

"It's...complicated," he muttered. "I'm sorry but I really don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine," Ino said cheerfully, unaware of his thoughts. "I think it's really cool, that's all."

They exited the forest and Naruto saw the other Genin, Kurenai, several of Yuri's clones, and Kakashi outside the house. He waved and his masked sensei gave a short wave back even though his nose was stuck in one of his books. Ino said that she was going to go explain to Kurenai what happened and he split off to speak to his sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei," he said and the man lowered his book. "Is Yuri-sensei at the bridge already?"

"Yes and he took Hinata with him. He wanted to teach her something he started yesterday while the knowledge was still fresh in her head," the man explained.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Yuri watched carefully as the young Hyuga worked through the kata of the Yugana Suteppu. She almost had it down but he stood by what he had speculated the previous morning. Just because Hinata knew the kata didn't mean she knew the style. It would take her several days worth of practice with the taijutsu before the movements became as flowing as they should be, were performed with no hesitation, and could be done almost without thinking.

He corrected the small errors that the girl made and when she had finished the kata for the fifth time he raised a hand for her to stop. Her chest moved quickly as she sucked in air.

"Walk around," he said. "It isn't good for you to just stop after such hard work. Your blood is carrying more oxygen than it usually does and if you just stop you will become light-headed and possibly nauseous."

She did as told and also put her arms on top of her head.

"You did very well and, so long as you are aware of what you are doing, I give you permission to practice this taijutsu on your own. You should do so for the next few days and when it becomes as easy as the Juken you will know that you've mastered it."

He allowed the girl to catch her breath but he spied a pleased smile on her face. She walked around a little longer and then over to him when she was ready.

He leaned against a tree and said, "I think we have done enough for now. Rest until Tazuna-san is ready to return and we will be on our way."

Tazuna finished soon after and came over to them with a large smile on his face. "Everything is going super," he informed the two shinobi. "I've given the others the rest of the day and the morning tomorrow off since I've been working them ragged these past few days but with the progress that we've made we can afford the break."

The three returned to the bridge builders home and Yuri busied himself with training the Genin. Sasuke was still having trouble with the water walking exercise but he was keeping his cool and was making good progress. The other Genin were working hard on the exercise as well and each of them except Choji were walking slowly along the surface of the water. Choji and Sasuke appeared to have become kindred spirits and both sat next to each other on the dock as they practiced the exercise.

Lunch was served around one and the Genin chatted happily with each other while Yuri and Kakashi discussed their plan to draw out Sasuke's blood line. It was going to be interesting but the idea was sound. The Sharingan came out only when the person with the blood line was under extreme emotional or mental stress and what better way of stressing the boy than having him suffer the killing intent of two Jonin. The plan held risks but it was better to have have the boy develop his kekkei genkai in a safe environment than in the heat of battle.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Sasuke sat down at the edge of the dock and set his feet on the water. He took Yuri's advice to heart and stayed calm as he practiced. He was happy to find that Choji wasn't getting the exercise either and the two talked as they practiced. He found the Akamichi to be a very pleasant person and always ready to suggest a break if Sasuke started to get frustrated.

He smirked when his feet stayed on the water and he started to add his weight. He could stand for about ten seconds consistently now and he felt that it was getting easier.

"Sasuke," Kakashi said as he stepped out on the house.

The Uchiha fell back to the dock and turned to look at his silver-haired sensei. "Hai?"

"Come with me," Kakashi said. "Yuri and I would like to try something and it involves you."

Sasuke followed the Jonin away from the house and into the forest. They traveled a short ways, taking a little longer due to Kakashi's slow, measured steps. The man had managed to start walking unaided that morning and had spent the rest of the day walking around to loosen his muscles.

Kakashi stopped, turned around, and a sickening feeling washed over Sasuke. The air felt sticky and his heart started to beat faster than was necessary. Killing intent. His sensei was sending killing intent at him and not a small amount either. Sasuke fell to one knee. His arms were paralyzed and images of blood and death flashed before his eyes. He had been trained to handle killing intent but the amount that Kakashi was sending at him was vastly more than he had ever felt before.

Another wave hit him and his heart started to hurt as fear gripped it tighter. This wave came from behind him and was so sickeningly thick that he could almost see a fog form in the small clearing. His arm moved slowly and he clenched his heart. Breathing became difficult and the thought of death entered his mind. Primal instincts took over and dread filled him to the brim.

He didn't know how long this went as seconds felt like years and every strangled breath he took felt like his last as his throat constricted. Then, the world became clear and the killing intent vanished. He collapsed to the ground and the smell of dirt and earth entered his nose. He sucked in a breath and flipped over to his back. He looked at the trees above him and marveled at the clarity that he could see them. He could see every leaf in perfect detail and he watched, mesmerized as one fell and slowly drifted down to rest on his chest.

"You alive?" Kakashi's familiar voice asked.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he rose himself with one arm. He glared at the man and snapped, "What the hell was that for?"

"It was a plan," came Yuri's voice behind him. Sasuke looked at the man and Yuri said, "And it looks like it worked. I must say, Kakashi, for a second there I started to doubt that it would."

"You were the one who told me that Sasuke would be strong enough to handle it," the silver-haired man accused casually.

"Yes, well, I had to put a little more umph into it at the end there."

Sasuke growled and asked darkly, "What are you two talking about?"

Yuri sat down next to him and held out a kunai. "Your eyes, Sasuke-san."

He took the kunai from the man and looked into the polished blade hesitantly. In the reflection he saw his face and his eyes. His breathing caught. His eyes were red with a single comma in each. It was the first stage of the Sharingan. He almost couldn't believe it and he didn't move for a long while.

"Do you think we broke him?" Kakashi asked after three minutes.

Yuri scratched his head and replied, "I'm no-"

Sasuke whooped louder than he ever had in his life. He jumped up and shouted his joy into the air. He rushed to Kakashi and hugged the man taking the Jonin completely off guard. He did the same to Yuri and then looked between the two, a twinkle of boyish glee in his red eyes.

"H-how did you-What did you-" he paused and shook his head. "How did this happen?"

"The Sharingan only emerges when the person with the kekkei genkai is under an extreme form of stress," Kakashi answered. "Yuri and I combined our killing intent to put you under such stress in hopes that the Sharingan would emerge. I would have told you of our plan but we didn't want to risk your foreknowledge effecting the outcome."

Sasuke nodded slowly and the hurt of betrayal dulled greatly in his heart. "Thank you so much," he said.

"You're welcome, Sasuke-san," Yuri said with a big smile on his face. He cleared his throat and continued, "However, with the unlocking of the Sharingan you have gained a new tool and also a heavy responsibility."

Sasuke gave Yuri his full attention and took a deep breath to calm himself. He was glad the two Jonin had taken him into the forest as he would never have lived down the teasing the other Genin would have given him for his outburst. He thought about what Yuri meant by responsibility but didn't remember any time when his father or any of his clansmen had told him of a responsibility that came with the gaining of the kekkei genkai. However, if Yuri said that he had a new responsibility than he took great care to listen.

"The Sharingan is a powerful tool," Yuri said, "but it is just a tool. Never become too reliant on it and become lax in your skills. As for the responsibility...the Sharingan, as you know, has the ability to copy ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu just by looking at the jutsu being performed. The responsibility that you are now charged with, whether you like it or not, is to respect others privacy and not copy the abilities of allies unless you have their express permission."

Sasuke nodded slowly. "I think I understand. If I were to train with a friend and use my eyes to copy their skills then I would be taking advantage of them and also disrespecting the amount of work that they put into gaining the skills. It would also destroy the trust that they have in me and none would ever wish to train with me."

"Good," Yuri said. "You understand. The Sharingan is only a tool, Sasuke-san, and cannot replace hard work. When you are in a battle you are allowed to copy jutsus and skills but if I ever find you copying the skills of allies without their permission I will rip your eyes out myself. The greed for power will only bring about evil and you lost the choice of walking that path the moment you met me. Kakashi and I helped you unlock those eyes so it is all three of our responsibility. Am I understood?"

Sasuke thought about what Yuri said and found that he agreed with the man. He wouldn't have his family's eyes if not for his two sensei so he owed it to them to be responsible with them. He also knew that if he did use his eyes for selfish needs or the pure desire of power then his sensei would also be responsible. He sent a pulse of chakra to his eyes, causing the Sharingan to disappear, and said, "I understand, Yuri-sensei. I know that the ability to copy jutsus comes with the third comma and when the time comes that I unlock that level I will act responsibly."

Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and when the Genin looked up at the man he saw that the man had a pleased look on his face and pride in his eyes. "Let's head back, shall we?"

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

The next day passed quickly for the Konoha shinobi. Morning training consisted of a difficult physical workout that Kakashi lead the Genin through and Asuma finally emerged from the house for the first time since he was brought there. There were significantly less bandages but his movements were slow and stiff as he went through his own workout.

That evening, Yuri took a surprised Choji to the bridge. He ran the boy through the ropes and found, as he expected from an Akimichi, that the boy's taijutsu was extremely strong for a Genin. Choji also had a huge chakra store, third only to Sasuke and Naruto, and his knowledge of the shinobi life was more focused on the finding and preparing of food than on anything combat related. This wasn't a bad thing as having a shinobi who could find food was a great boon for the other shinobi around as they would alway be well fed.

For all the good things that Choji had going for him there was one glaring weakness that the boy had and Yuri meant to help fix.

"You have absolutely no ranged attacks whatsoever," the black-haired Jonin said bluntly.

Choji shook his head and plunged his hand into a bag of potato chips. He crunched down on a few and said, "My clan specializes in close combat and I'm not ready to learn the one or two ranged jutsu I can think of."

"Ah, yes," Yuri said. "However the jutsus you speak of are only mid-range attacks as the Akimichi have no long-range jutsu that I know of. Also, don't speak with your mouth full."

The chubby boy swallowed and tilted his head. "How did you know that my clan has no long-range attacks?"

Yuri knew that bit of information from talking to his Choji as the two had spent several days working on remedying the problem. They never got to fix it though. Choji had died before they could. However, before he died, he had thought of something and had told Yuri about it since he had no idea how to go about creating the jutsu. Yuri banished the ache that had began to form in his heart and cleared his throat. He owed it to his Choji to pass on the jutsu that might have saved his life.

"An old friend told me," he replied. "Of all the Genin that I have trained, I have only taught Naruto a jutsu. Most of the time, Genin are lacking too heavily in taijutsu to benefit from a ninjutsu but that isn't the case for you, Akimichi-san."

Choji beamed with pride at the compliment and Yuri allowed the boy his moment of glory. From what Yuri remembered, Choji was a very self-conscious boy and had a low self-esteem. If he drew pride from the compliment that Yuri had given then so be it but the Jonin also wouldn't let it go to his head.

"Don't forget that you lack completely in long-ranged attacks so don't let that pride cloud your caution."

The boy smiled sheepishly.

"Now, the jutsu I want to teach you isn't an elemental jutsu. I'm afraid that you are still a ways from learning those. The jutsu is called, Chakra Parusu, and requires no hand signs to perform." Yuri rose his arm and pointed his hand toward a tree. "It is a relatively simple jutsu but takes a large toll on the users chakra reserves. With the amount that you have I would say that three uses is your max right now."

A slightly blue glow appeared in the center of Yuri's hand and he explained, "To perform the jutsu you must concentrate chakra into the smallest point you can manage at the center of your hand. The smaller the point the farther the jutsu will go. Allow the chakra to build up," the blue glow got a bit brighter, "and when you have enough you send a rush of chakra down your arm to act as the firing mechanism."

The Jonin's hand bucked back slightly and a blue light flashed across the clearing and into the tree that Yuri's palm had been facing. When the blue light connected with the bark it exploded and a fist sized chunk was taken from the tree.

"You can use this from any part of your body but, for now, only do it from your palm as it is the easiest place to do it and holds the least chance of blowing a body part off."

Choji's eyes widened and his face went white. "Why would I want to learn a jutsu that could blow my hand off?"

Yuri smiled and replied, "You would have to build up a massive amount of chakra to do that but the possibility stands that it could happen. Trust me, the pain of the built up chakra would force you to use the jutsu or disperse the chakra well before it came to that. For now, practice with a small amount of chakra and fire it at a leaf tied to a piece of string. It will take you some time to learn but I have a feeling that you will get it."

Choji practiced the jutsu and asked Yuri dozens of questions until Tazuna came to them. It was the end of the third day and the man was starting to become anxious for the next shinobi attack. Yuri calmed the man and explained that the enemy shinobi wouldn't be able to attack for at least two more days and that they, the Konoha shinobi, would be ready for them by then. Kurenai and he were in fighting shape and Kakashi and Asume would be ready by the next day as the only thing that was slowing them now was stiff muscles and minor injuries.

They made it to the house just as the sun set and the moon become the dominant light in the sky. The smell of cooked meat wafted from the house and the low buzz of people talking came from the door. Yuri enter the home and it appeared that Tsunami had prepared a feast. Everyone was crowded into the kitchen with the Jonin sitting on chairs and the Gennin finding any surface that wasn't taken to set themselves.

Choji laughed happily and started in on the food. When he had filled his plate he sat down next to Shikamaru and said a word to Sasuke as he passed the other boy. The other Genin were in good humor and the moral of the group was at a peak.

Yuri snatched a few things from the virtual buffet and leaned his back against the wall closest to the other Jonin. Kakashi looked more alive and the crutch that the man had been using was nowhere in sight. Asuma also looked good after being at near death but the care that Kurenai and Hinata were providing seemed to have help the man get back into fighting action. The young Sarutobi still had a bandage here and there but his movements were fluid and unaffected by his existing wounds.

The Jonin passed the time talking about the training of the Genin, the things that still needed to be worked on, and slightly touched on preparing for the future battle with Zabuza and his shinobi. Yuri smiled at something Asuma said when he noticed the small boy, Inari, standing at the entrance to the kitchen. He had a dark look on his face and it was then, like cold water splashing onto his brain, that Yuri remembered what the boy had done when he had gone on this very mission all those years ago.

"You're all going to die," the boy said quietly and almost instantly the talking in the room died.

"Inari," Tsunami gasped.

The boy sent a dark glare at everyone in the room and repeated, "You're all going to die."

Yuri sent a glance at the boy and the look in his eyes told a tale of pain and sorrow. Inari's tale was one easily told and so often found. Bullied since a young age, he had none to look up too until everything changed with the actions of one person. That man was Kaiza, a true hero. He had openly defied Gato and paid the ultimate price for it. His death had been brutal as he had been made an example of but even in his end he stood strong and held to his beliefs. However, when Kaiza died so too had Inari's hope for a hero. Any hero.

"Where do you get off saying that, you brat?!" Kiba barked.

Inari rested his withering glare on the Inuzuka and said, "The weak die and the strong rule over them. That is how the world is."

"And we are weak, right Inari?" Kakashi asked quietly but his voice still filled the room.

He nodded. "You should leave before my Grandpa gets you killed. There isn't anything you can do against Gato. Heroes are only good for one thing and that is dying."

Asuma nodded slowly. "Then," he said, "I guess we're going to struggle and die."

"What?" the boy asked, confused and angry.

"We are Konoha shinobi," Kurenai answered, "and while shinobi from other villages might run we stand and fight."

Inari turned his glare fully to the female Jonin and asked, "You're going to fight and die. Why, what's the point?"

"We were hired to do this mission," she answered. "If we were to run it would look bad for Konoha."

"Not only that by our insufferable pride would never let us," Asuma added.

"You just don't get it!" Inari yelled. "He already tried to save us and he died like all heroes do. Gato is stronger than you and he will kill all of you. The ones that don't die in the fighting will be publicly tortured and executed to warn everyone in the village and everyone outside the village to not interfere with him. You all don't get it. You all haven't suffered under Gato's men. I bet none of you have suffered a single day of your life!"

"All the world is full of suffering," Yuri suddenly said and everyone turned to look at him but he barely noticed as all his attention was solely on Inari. "To think that you are unique in this pain is a foolish notion of a brat who doesn't understand the workings of the world. Loved ones die, jobs are lost, and people suffer under the hands of evil men. I ask you, is this not suffering? Is suffering only unique to Inari Ito who has lost someone he loved dearly?"

Yuri paused but Inari didn't say anything and he continued, "Your silence is your answer. The world is full of suffering and pain but it is also full of overcoming and courage. Everyone suffers, Inari, and few ever find the strength to truly overcome it but for the ones that do, well, they will be the ones to stand strong in the face of opposition and pain. They are the ones who will lead others out of the darkness of sorrow and suffering and into the light. I wonder, are you strong enough to overcome your suffering and step into the light?"

Inari stared at Yuri and ran away without saying anything. The atmosphere of the group was broken and everyone started to leave for bed. Kurenai took the first watch, Kakashi wanted the second, and Yuri volunteer for the third since he was going to the bridge in the morning anyway.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist before he left Kiri. Yuri gazed over the forest slowly as he thought about the enemy shinobi that he and the others had fought against four days ago. Zabuza was the strongest of the group and the black-haired Jonin placed him at Kage level. The man was strong enough to plan a coup, fight against the fourth Mizukage, and escape with not only his life but the lives of the others that traveled with him. He would be the hardest to take down.

Haku, the masked hunter-nin, was Jonin level with his strongest ability being surprise. Only Yuri knew of his ability to use Hyoton jutsu and he couldn't tell the others otherwise he would risk questions about how he knew about it. He could say that the boy had used some jutsu against him but the other Jonin would have noticed if someone was throwing around ice as jutsu.

The Smiling Man was Jonin and had the ability to mold his killing intent in such a way that he could make even Yuri feel its effects. He was Jonin in the rest of his skills but with his apparent kekkei genkai he was better than most Jonin in a fight. He was limited, however, in its use when his allies were around as he had stopped using his killing intent when Haku had entered the battle to help him.

The female enemy shinobi was highly skilled in ninjutsu but was far less physically strong when compared to her Jonin counterparts. She, instead, focused on flanking attacks and drawing attention to her with the use of ninjutsu. Yuri suspected that she had a fire affinity as she seemed to have a preference with those types of jutsu but he didn't doubt that she knew jutsu from other elements as well.

Finally, there was the swordsman, Katsutoshi Nagashi. Mid-Chunin in his skills and more than a handful for any of the Genin that were in Konoha's group. Even Naruto would be destroyed by the man if it came to a one-on-one fight. Even if he or one of the other Jonin could take this man out at the beginning of the battle it wouldn't do much to help them but then, they had the advantage as it was.

Yuri looked down at the water and saw a fish jump out. He looked back to the trees and continued his thoughts. He or Kakashi could fight Zabuza and the one who didn't could fight against the woman. Kurenai would be the best suited to fight against the Smiling Man as she would notice what was an illusion and what wasn't better than the rest of them. As for Asuma, he could fight Haku and the Chunin. His Futon abilities would put a stop Haku's ultimate jutsu and he was more than a match for the Chunin.

With the limited information that Yuri had on the enemy shinobi he was forced to make several assumptions on the skills of the enemy. When he had done this mission it had only been Zabuza and Haku and he could only guess how his presence had butterflied into there being more shinobi with the swordsman. No doubt it would be an interesting story if it could be told.

Yuri nodded slowly. That was the best plan for Konoha because as the Jonin kept the enemy shinobi busy the Genin could kill any bandits that show up at Tazuna's home or the bridge. None of the Genin had their first kills but they had been lectured on it ever since their first Academy class and none of them would hesitate if it meant their or a friend's life.

The biggest issue for Yuri was the analysis of his own abilities. With the loss of Kurama he was no longer a jinchuuriki and couldn't rely on the ancient being's aid. He had formed a weird relationship with the being, not a friendship as it was impossible for a human to understand the workings of a being that was above morals and looked at humans as nothing more then ants but it was more of an understanding. A mutual respect. Of course, none of that mattered any more since Kurama was gone, ripped from him several years ago.

The loss of the chakra being had been quiet a blow to his abilities but he still had Sage Mode to turn to, well, that was until he appeared in this new timeline. He had not been lax in his own training since he had arrived and worked himself to the bone with the use of kage bunshin and his own physical training. However, he had found out the hard way that he could no longer use natural chakra and with the loss of that he had also lost Sage Mode as well. He had tried entering it during the second month of being in the new timeline and it had been a painful experience. The chakra had flowed into him just fine but when it was in him it had started to attack his chakra system and damaged his internal organs. If he hadn't had his healing ability he would have died from the single moment exposure to the chakra.

The only explanation he had for why the natural chakra attacked him was that it looked at him as a foreign body in the timeline he was in. He compared it to the human body and white blood cells. He was an alien body in the timeline and the natural chakra was acting like white blood cells as it tried to remove him from the timeline. He wasn't sure how accurate his comparison was or if his thoughts were even right but what he did know was that he couldn't use natural chakra any more, not in this new timeline at least.

With the loss of Kurama and Sage Mode he was far weaker than he originally was but even with just his own abilities he was still a force to be reckoned with. If he had to guess he would say that he was in the same tier as Minato Namizake was before he gave his life to seal Kurama but even at that level Madara was still a monster to deal with and there was still a score of other shinobi to boast the same abilities. Hell, his Kakashi had been at that level before he fell in battle.

He sighed. If he hadn't just gotten done running for four days straight with little to no rest and using his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu multiple times on the way to Wave he would have wiped the floor with the Smiling man and Haku but as it was he had been exhausted physically and even his massive chakra stores had been stretched due to constant use over the four-day journey. But, he was rested now and, even if he couldn't use his full power for risk of unwanted questions, the battle wouldn't go the same as last time.

The only one that could hope to fight himi was Zabuza but even if the man was Kage level Yuri was still in another tier entirely. It would take two Kage level shinobi to push him to his limits in battle and he mused over the similarity that he held with Minato in that. The Fourth Hokage had once fought against two Kage level shinobi during the Third Shinobi War and had reported that if the retreat hadn't been called he might not have won the fight.

When one got the to the level of Kage power began to take on a new meaning as it was no longer measured in speed, strength, or chakra but in cunning, deception, and a bit of luck. It didn't really matter if your enemy was faster than you because the simple use of an area jutsu brought the advantage to the other side. Honestly, there was nothing like a battle between two Kage level shinobi.

A door opened and Yuri watched Inari come out of the house. The boy had disappeared after Yuri had said his piece. He smirked when he thought about how he had reacted to the boy in his timeline. He had blown up that him and explained how he had felt suffering and pain. He shook his head. He had been so immature as a child.

A minute after Inari come out of the house, Naruto exited. The blonde took a deep breath of the cool, moist air and stretched. He looked to his left and noticed Inari sitting on the edge of the dock with his feet dangling in the water.

Yuri didn't move when Naruto walked over to the boy and sat down next to him. Curious, he listened to what Naruto said to the child.

"Tazuna told us about Kaiza," he said. Inari flinched but didn't respond. "He was quite the hero and a man who could easily be looked up to."

"He was a weakling," Inari muttered.

Naruto turned his head to the boy and replied, "Really? From what I heard he was actually pretty strong."

"Not strong enough to fight Gato. He acted the hero and died for it. There is no such thing as heroes so you should just leave."

Naruto nodded. "I would but I'm no hero." Inari looked at the blonde Genin. "The others and myself were hired to protect Tazuna. A hero wouldn't protect someone for payment but would do so because they thought it was the right thing to do. I'm a shinobi, Inari. Little more than a mercenary in all honesty and I couldn't become a hero even if I wanted to. We stay because we were paid to protect your grandfather, not become we want to."

"I don't get it," the boy said, confused.

The blonde smiled. "Yeah, same here. It's hard to describe but all I know is that I'm no hero. The real hero is Tazuna. He fights his own way and goes to that bridge everyday with the understanding that it may be his last ever time. If that ain't courage then I don't know what is."

"But if he dies then it doesn't matter," Inari mumbled.

"I get it. You're worried about him and us. There's no use in denying it as it is as clear as day to me. You want us to leave because you think that we will die if we don't but we are not so weak nor is Tazuna." Naruto looked at the water and sighed. "I'm not as good at this stuff as Yuri-sensei."

The two didn't say anything for a few minutes until Inari asked, "What does it mean to be a hero?"

Naruto rubbed his chin and answered, "Some would tell you that to be a hero you have to be strong. Others would say that you have to lead the people to a better tomorrow. And still more would say that being a hero means that you have to be kind to everyone. Personally, I think it is far more simple than all of those. A hero, as I see it, is just someone who holds onto their courage just a little longer than others."

"Naruto," someone called from inside the house and out walked Ino. "Do you mind if I join you and Yuri-sensei at the bridge this morning?"

Naruto looked at the girl and asked, "Why?"

She flicked a strand of hair and answered, "Choji and Hinata have both trained with him and have changed slightly, like they're more confident or something like that. I want to see what he can help me with is all."

"Well, I don't care. Ask Yuri-sensei if you can."

Yuri dropped to the dock and said, "It's fine with me, Yamanaka-san."

Ino jumped and twisted to face him. "Kami, don't do that!"

Tazuna came out soon after and the four started toward the bridge. Naruto messed up Inari's hair before he left and Yuri noted that the boy was lost in thought and didn't notice the blonde's show of affection. Naruto's talk had been odd and could have been explained a little better but he had done well and it appeared that the boy had heard something that made him think.

Naruto and Ino talked as the group went to the bridge and Yuri let them. He was watching the forest and there wouldn't be anything that either of the two Genin would notice that he wouldn't. Tazuna made small talk with him and mentioned that the bridge was getting close to completion which was why he wanted to go to the bridge earlier than usual. He wanted to inspect the structure and look at the supplies that were left. He thought they had enough but he laughed and mentioned that he was getting old for worrying about silly things.

Yuri tensed when the group emerged from the forest and saw the bridge. It was covered in a thick mist, thicker than the usual mist. He held his hand up for the group to stop and the Genin immediately stopped talking. Yuri scanned the bridge and took a step toward it.

"Naruto, Ino," he said seriously, "take Tazuna back to the house as fast as you can. The enemy is here."

* * *

I started work on my own original story on Fictionpress recently. If you're interested the link to the story is in my profile. I would appreciate all the support and feedback I can get for the story. Thanks!

Until next time...  
-Unbiased Abyss


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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A calm came over Yuri as he started a slow, confident walk toward the thick mist that covered the bridge. He was a fighter, always had been and he had always thought the clearest in the thick of battle. It would take Naruto, Ino, and Tazuna about seven minutes to get to the house if they weren't interrupted. The Jonin would get to the bridge three minutes after that so, in total, he would be alone in this fight for ten minutes.

A black figure exited the mist and Yuri recognized the man as the swordsman that Naruto had fought before. As they got closer to each other, Yuri knew that he couldn't afford to attack the man. It would have been a simple thing to end the man's life but the moments distraction would be enough of an opening for Zabuza to attack. As it was, he preferred Naruto's chances with this man then with any of the other enemies present.

They passed and the swordsman nodded his head slightly at Yuri. A sign of respect or something else, Yuri didn't know but he nodded back and entered the mist. It was thick and made eye sight useless but Yuri had other senses and he took the chance that Zabuza was the only one of the enemy that could fight to his full capacity in it.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Zabuza swung his blade and felt it slice through the Konoha shinobi's body. He smirked. The man had been a fool to enter the mist so carelessly. Where others couldn't see anything in the thick mist, he could see all. His sight was just as limited as everyone else but his senses were trained for this style of combat. It could be a mist or a pitch black room and Zabuza would still know where to strike.

He glanced down at the body and frowned slightly when it turned into water. A water clone? That was odd, as the clones typically splashed into water the moment they were destroyed. He took a step back into thick mist that hadn't been disturbed by his attack and reached out with his senses. At the moment, he was the only one that was in the mist. Having been one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, he knew what he was doing without sight but the rest of the shinobi in his group weren't as skilled. Tsuyo, perhaps, but it was more likely the man would swing his hammer clumsily around until the Konoha shinobi was forced to act.

The sound of air whispering around an object alerted him to danger and he twisted his blade around his body to intercept a kunai. The Konoha shinobi pressed the attack as he dropped the kunai and grabbed the dull side of Zabuza's blade. He pushed it down, the same direction that Zabuza had spun it, and it dug into the ground. The man came over the now harmless blade with a kunai in his other hand and Zabuza only just ducked under the attack. He punched up toward the enemies gut but missed by a hair's width as the man expertly swung his arms and twisted in the air.

Zabuza took a step toward the man and ripped his blade from the ground. The man, however, had already retreated into the mist and, to Zabuza's astonishment, he couldn't keep track of him. A thrill went down his spine as he considered the skill of his opponent but it was short lived when he noticed some black markings on his blade. His eyes widened and he threw the blade into the mist, away from the side of the bridge that his allies waited. The seal that he saw on the blade was recognizable to any shinobi, Genin to Jonin, and he was proven right when the seal glowed a light blue and exploded in a deafening roar of smoke and fire.

Zabuza wasn't worried about his blade as it had suffer such abuse before and remained unbroken but his heart did start pounding a bit harder at the position he was in. The only other shinobi that he had ever heard of doing what that Konoha shinobi had just done was the Yondaime Hokage. To leave a seal in the mere moment that the man had been touching the blade was terrifying proof that the man was far stronger than he had first thought.

The blast cleared the mist in the area and Zabuza felt very exposed. The howling of a kunai turned his attention to the mist to his left and he moved to block three kunai that came ripping from the water vapor. As he moved to his left, however, the man came rushing at him from his right. Zabuza's eyes widened at the speed the man possessed and he knew that there was no way he would be able to maneuver out of the attack without sustaining a severe injury.

The man came close, his face a blank mask, and in his hand was a kunai that swung at him with deadly determination. A roar bellowed from above and Zabuza was relieved to see Tsuyo come crashing down on top of the Konoha shinobi. The armored man crashed his hammer onto the man and the bridge buckled under his might. To the swordsman's complete amazement and respect, the Konoha shinobi had managed to dodge the attack with a quick bending of his body so that the hammer just missed his fragile ribs.

The enemy shinobi latched his hand onto the hammer and pulled himself up. Tsuyo slammed his leg onto the shaft of the hammer that the man gripped, causing the hammer to swing around and back onto the large man's shoulder. The shinobi changed his grip just at Tsuyo hit the shaft and came up off the ground with the gigantic hammer. He twisted in mid-air and his feet landed on the head of the hammer, his hand raised in the air, and the kuni that was clenched in it flashed in the sunlight.

Tsuyo would have been killed if not for Zabuza slashing at the man before he could attack. The Konoha shinobi leap from the hammer and landed a good distance off.

"Zabuza," Tsuyo breathed in relief, "who the hell is this guy?"

"Someone that we can't afford to go easy on," he returned.

Tsuyo locked his eyes on the man and growled, "Why didn't you tell me that one of the Konoha shinobi was this strong? It would have been nice to know."

"I didn't think he was," the bandaged swordsman answered. "From what Haku and Nise reported he had only just been able to handle those two and he had the Copycat Shinobi, Kakashi Hatake, with him when I fought him. He must have been holding back, just in case we fought again."

"Well, it almost, Kami damned, worked," the large man grunted. "He just about killed both of us with our carelessness." The man tilted his head slightly and asked, "Why hasn't he attacked yet?"

"Because you are now aware of my skills and to attack now would be foolish," the man answered.

Tsuyo grinned and fire back, "We are having a private conversation here, thank you."

"Tsuyo," Zabuza snapped, "now is not the time for jokes." He studied the man and asked, "What do you want?"

"I am Yuri Karasu, Jonin of Konoha," the man said. "I am here to protect the bridge builder. Why not make this easier and just leave this land. You will find no money here, only death."

The swordsmen frowned under his bandage mask. He analysed his situation and didn't like what he found. True, it was Tsuyo, Haku, Nise, Akako, and himself against this guy and they would win if they fought but it would take time and energy that they couldn't afford to expend. Not only that but the longer they took against him the more time the Genin had to get back to the other Konoha shinobi and alert them to the situation. He knew that Katsutoshi would catch up to them but he couldn't be sure that the man would take out both the Genin and the bridge builder. If even one of them stalled him while the others ran he would fail and the Jonin would he alerted.

He nodded slowly. His only option was to all out attack this Yuri Karasu and end his life as fast as possible.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Naruto ran as fast as his legs would carry him and his senses were extended to their limit behind him. A few clones carried the bridge builder and Ino lead the way in their desperate run back to the other shinobi. His heart pounded in his chest and he pushed his worry for Yuri to the back of his mind. He willed himself to go faster as the sooner he got to the house the sooner Yuri would get aid.

Naruto sensed someone coming up behind him quickly and he turned in the air to throw several shuriken. He spotted the trench coat wearing swordsman a little ways off and he yelled to Ino. "Keep going, I'll hold him off."

Ino looked back and her face was filled with fear. She made to argue but Naruto snapped, "The faster you get back, the faster I and Yuri will get help."

She didn't seem convinced and he barked, "Go, Ino! If we both stay and fight we might both die and word will never reach Kakashi-sensei. If you go we have a better chance."

"But you might die!" she yelled back.

"This is bigger than you or me," he yelled back. "Now go!"

She sent him a worried look and ran away with his clones and Tazuna behind her.

Naruto turned his back to the two and watched Katsutoshi walk out of the thick brush of the forest. The man had his katana unsheathed and the blond could almost feel a burning sensation on his chest where he had sustained his largest injury in his previous fight. Naruto had pushed himself to his limit since their last fight and had used his clones to work on his taijutsu to the point of perfection or as close as he could get without Yuri's guidance.

"You would block my path?" the man asked slowly and a hint of confusion was in his voice.

Naruto smirked. "We just keep running into each other, don't we?"

"Why?" the man asked. "Why stand in the way of death?"

"Because if I don't then you'll kill Tazuna-san and I happen to like the old man," Naruto answered.

Katsutoshi stared at him from behind his tall collar. If the man wanted to think about something, that was fine with Naruto as the longer the man took to attack the longer Ino had to get back to the others.

Naruto's instinct screamed and he ripped a kunai from his pouch. He took a step forward and twisted just in time to catch the katana of the man. Naruto cursed at his carelessness as the man that he had been speaking too vanished from view. A genjutsu. If he survived this, Naruto noted, he would have to ask Yuri or Kakashi to teach him how to detect and dispel those illusions.

He blocked two more swipes and sent a kick to the man's chest. It was easily dodged but the point wasn't to hit the man. When Katsutoshi landed on the ground arms erupted from beneath him and grabbed hold of his legs. Naruto sent several kunai at the man and his hands flashed through seals.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" the blonde called and the few kunai split into dozens.

Katsutoshi's sword seemed to turn into liquid silver as he maneuvered it around his feet and destroyed the clones that held him. He turned his attention to the coming kunai and swatted at them with his katana as he stepped out of the way.

In a flash of speed, the man was in front of Naruto, his blade already in mid swing. Naruto's instinct yelled at him to jump away but he ignored them and stepped in closer to the man. He reached up and caught the man's wrist and moved to strike his gut.

Katsutoshi and the blonde Genin were locked in a tight taijutsu combat but no matter how much speed, strength, and skill Naruto put into the conflict his enemy always seemed to be a step ahead. A few times he had almost hit the man but for each close call Naruto suffered twice as much. Seeing the folly in staying in the locked combat, Naruto concentrated as best he could in the situation and summoned several clones around him. When the clones appeared he had several of them dispel right away, creating a smoke screen that envelope the two.

He let go of the man's hand and performed sealless Kawarimi no Jutsu with one of his remaining clones but was a bit slower than he wanted when he felt the blade of the katana rip through his left bicep. He stifled a grunt and stepped deeper into the smoke. He stopped himself from clenching his arm and allowed his natural healing ability take its course. The injury wouldn't kill him, obviously, but it would limit his combat abilities slightly.

Naruto's blue eyes widened when he saw Katsutoshi appear in the weaning smoke, his blade cleaning cutting the head off of a clone and then turn to him. His blade screeched through the air and Naruto ducked, lest he suffer the same fate as his clone. The blade passed overhead and Naruto had only a moment to regret his lack of observation. The blade passed overhead and did make a sound, but the smoke didn't move around it. Genjutsu.

Pain sliced into Naruto's mind when cold steel pierced his side. He felt it cut through internal organs, pass through a kidney, and come out his other side. The blade dug into the ground and the smoke dissipated completely to reveal that Naruto had been pierced to the ground. The blonde coughed up blood as he turned his head slightly to see the trench coated man standing over him.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Yuri kicked at Haku, who's mask was cracked from a previous taijutsu encounter, and ducked an attack from the armored shinobi. Using the wind the hammer created in its passing, he molded his chakra and threw a hand toward the man. A maelstrom of wind exploded from his palm and the man leaned forward and applied chakra to his feet as to not get thrown away. Focusing wind chakra in his fingers as he forced his chakra to continue the movement of the wind from his palm, Yuri twitched his fingers and knifes of chakra entered the maelstrom.

Metal was gouged from the enemy shinobi's armor but before Yuri could push the attack a increase of chakra and heat behind him alerted him to the presence of the red woman. He looked in time to see fire come toward him and he slide his foot slightly. A wall of earth rose and the fire collided with a solid wall of stone. Instincts screamed, and Yuri aborted any type of counter-attack that he was planning as he maneuvered his hand under him and jumped with the wind before cutting off its flow. In the place he had been, Zabuza's large blade took his place stabbing into thin air.

Yuri noted quickly that it wasn't Zabuza but the Smiling Man who held the sword and he glanced behind him in time to see a dragon made of water come roaring over the side of the stone bridge. The jaws of the monster opened and Yuri took a breath before he was consumed. Turbulent tides and strong currents worked against Yuri and he was acutely aware that the temperature of the water was decreasing quickly.

Thinking quickly, he formed two balls of air in the palms of his hands and clapped them together with all his strength. The two balls formed together and the pressure of the water caved down upon the single orb. With the drastic change in pressure into a centralized point, Yuri forced his chakra into the current and ripped control of the water from Zabuza. Spikes formed along the creature and the man was forced to jump away from the beast.

Yuri continued forcing his control into the water and increased the pressure into the coldest spots of the water. Ice formed and he used the water that was left to shoot it out of the disfigured beast and toward his enemy. He watched as tiny ice shards were spit out of the water at high speeds and in completely random directions, distracting the enemy long enough for him to shoot himself out of the water and to the end of the unfinished bridge.

Crouching, Yuri placed his hands on the bridge, whispered a quick apology to Tazuna, and called out, "Doton: Asudoragon no Hoko!"

The end of the bridge buckled and pulled away from its supports as the stone construction rose from its resting place. The stone collided together and rolled over itself and the end of the bridge took on a more dragon like appearance as it rocketed toward the enemy that stood on the bridge. Yuri ran along the dragon as it rolled, allowing more and more stone to separate him and his opponents and relinquished control of the beast when it made it halfway back to the shore. Just before all his chakra exited the stone construct, he formed a hole in it leading to its gaping mouth. Placing his hands at his end of the hole he roared loudly, "Katon: Hi no Koseki!"

Fire erupted from his hands, was channeled down the tunnel, and exploded out of the jaws of the dragon making it look like the stone monster was the one breathing fire. Yuri placed a seal next to the hole with his free hand and sprinted along the stone dragon when it was completed. He watched as the fire continued, a genjutsu powered by the seal and made all the more convincing by the fake heat that came from it and the loud bestial roar that rattle in the stone dragon's throat.

Clenching his teeth, Yuri jumped into the fire, allowing it to act as a smoke screen, and pulled a kunai from his pouch. The black-haired shinobi threw his hand in front of him and threw out several explosive tags. He added a small amount of wind chakra into the air and a gale blew the tags out of the fire. The tags sailed in the air and exploded, tearing into the ground and echoing in the air. He exited the fire and found the smiling man's back toward him. His plan was loose and was only based on chance but it paid off and his kunai found a home in the man's heart.

The Smiling Man didn't make a sound when he died. He didn't make any threats or stagger long enough to warn his allies of his demise. This was a real shinobi battle and that type of stuff never really happened. The man dropped to the ground and Yuri felt his genjutsu stop. The flames vanished in an instant and the smoke from the explosive tags dispersed with the wind.

Suddenly, something gripped his leg and Yuri looked down to see the Smiling Man give him one last smile as he clenched his leg with all the strength he had left. Metal scraping against metal was the only warning he had and he managed to tighten his muscles when a hammer smashed into his side and threw him to the side. He hit the stone railing of the bridge but it did little to stop him as he went through it and plummeted toward the water.

Yuri pushed the pain he suffered from out of his mind and took stock of his injuries as he landed on the water. His right arm was broken badly and his difficulty breathing spoke of the damage his ribs had done to his internal organs. He had managed to kill one of the enemy but the two most dangerous ones were alive and that wasn't acceptable.

Water rose around Yuri like dogs jumping up to bite at his arms and head and he closed his eyes. "Katon: Nesutingu Fenikkusu!" Fire came to life around him and rotated around his entire body in a giant protective shell. Water hissed and Yuri worked out a counter to what his enemy was doing. In the second his jutsu provided him, Yuri analysed the attack. No doubt, Zabuza was the one who used the water jutsu and the Konoha Jonin figured that it was the one that would hold him in place but the man would have to know that he would be able to get out of it so that meant that it was only a diversion. With the water of the river, it only made sense that the ice jutsu that Haku used would be put into play and Yuri suspected that it was going to be the same one that was used on him and Sasuke when he was a kid.

With that jutsu in use, the red woman would have to get into a position that she could attack if he managed to get out of the cage of ice and he guessed that she would be above him with a fire jutsu ready to go. The armored shinobi would be on the opposite side of Zabuza but which, Yuri couldn't know for certain. With the enemy in those places that meant that their weakest point was above him where the red woman waited. He looked up and a plan came to him.

With the fire of his jutsu still raging, he moved it down into the water of the river, creating steam. As the fire moved down in the water and was extinguished he caught a glimpse of ice mirrors that confirmed his suspicions about what Haku was doing. He spotted the masked shinobi in one of the mirrors and swatted some ice senbon away that were thrown at him. The steam rose and block his view of Haku and he quickly created several kage bunshin. The clones rushed the edges of the cage and he nodded in satisfaction that Haku focused on them. He nodded to the two that stayed behind and they sunk into the water. He could imagine them gliding under the water and under the cage. They would rise out of the water in a flurry of motion, drawing the attention of both Zabuza and the armored shinobi. He waited until he was sure they rose from the water and jumped out of the mist. He flew up and out of the cage, catching a glimpse of a hand reaching out of one of the mirrors in an attempt to stop his escape but it was all for not.

He saw the red woman standing of the side of the bridge and smirked when she moved her hands to her mouth and blew out a stream of fire. Most shinobi would avoid the fire but Yuri knew better. Sometime you get more burned avoiding the fire than going at it head on. The woman's aim was a bit off and the fire engulfed his left shoulder and arm. He ignored the pain and stench of burning flesh as he touched down on the side of the bridge and pushed against it to increase his speed toward the red woman. She only had time to call a short warning before a kunai flashed past her neck and her head rolled to far to the side. Her body fell toward the water but was caught by Haku before it hit.

Yuri flexed his left arm, the burns stung and the areas of black flesh were oddly numb. He clenched his fingers and was satisfied that he could still make use of the arm. He had taken two of his enemy out and had made the three that were left waste precious chakra in the process. He had done all the good he was going to do and he concerned himself with surviving their onslaught until the others came. At least, he hoped they came.

**-A Testament of Things that Never Will-**

Naruto's breath rushed in and out of him and his body shook from exhaustion. Blood seeped from the many wounds that he had sustained from his battle but he held a fair bit of pride in the fact that his opponent was also bleeding from a few wounds as well. He had fallen back into a defensive strategy and his paranoid like caution was the only reason he had managed to survive as long as he had.

Katsutoshi stood across the clearing from him, his sword held in front of him. It frustrated Naruto to no end that the only reason the man was so dangerous, or at least partly so, was the stupid sword the man wielded. If he could think of a way to get the sword away from the man than he would be able to more even the playing field. His thoughts stopped at that. He focused on it and a plan formed. Crossing his fingers, Naruto summoned dozens of clones around him.

The swordsman sighed and said, "It doesn't matter how many you bring forth, they will never touch me."

Naruto smirked. "We'll see about that."

His clones charged and the blade of the swordsman danced. Clones died in droves but still they pushed forward. One by one and two by two they were destroyed, with none getting close to the man. Katsutoshi quickly stabbed another clone and Naruto unleashed his plan. Instead of disappearing, the clone froze and his color changed to that of brown and black earth. Naruto, positioned behind the stabbed clone, snatched the exposed blade of the sword and punched his hand through the head of the earth clone. He opened his hand to display an explosive tag to the world. It hissed loudly and just before it exploded, Naruto let go of the tag and pulled it back through the clone's head.

He felt the concussive force first and then the sound and heat. The earth clone did much in taking the majority of the brute force of the blast but Naruto was still thrown to the other side of the clearing. His hand burned and he looked at it to see Katsutoshi's katana still clenched in his fingers. It had torn into his palm but he still had it. He summoned several clones, gave one the sword, and watched them take off into the forest.

He got to his knees and saw that the blast had dug a small crater where it had blown. The grass was charred around the rim and a few small fires burned duly. The swordsman rose from his side of the clearing, his trench coat was a tattered mess, and he looked around quickly for something. Naruto suspected what he was looking for and, with the evening of the battle field, he felt a fair bit more confident about the outcome of the fight.

Pushing with his legs, he rose slowly and he became acutely aware of every injury that he had suffered in the battle. Both his arms were covered in cuts ranging from minor to major and he even had a few wounds on his chest and back. He quickly glanced at himself and saw that his clothes were covered in blood, mostly his, and with how exhausted he felt he knew that the battle had taken far more out of him than he wanted to admit. If this guy was as good in taijutsu as he was in swordplay then Naruto knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he wouldn't survive their next engagement.

Steeling himself, Naruto started a determined walk toward the man. He forced his hands to relax and focused his senses to create a shell behind him. Typically this was done in Tetsu Sheru, his defensive style of taijutsu, but Naruto didn't have the choice in being defensive any more. If Katsutoshi was better at taijutsu than him then he would be dead in minutes if he took the defensive route. That meant that the only option that contained survival was going on the offensive but he couldn't afford to give up his shell that Tetsu Sheru had. So, he developed his shell and enter the starting position for the third kata of Odayakana Kaze, his offensive style.

He rushed his opponent and entered into the realm of battle. Fists and kicks flew everywhere and Naruto pushed his aching body and burning muscles to move faster and hit harder. His hands moved unconsciously to block incoming attacks and he brutally attacked any openings that he could find. Minutes passed in the battle and neither gained any advantage and that was when Naruto saw something. Whenever he attack the man's right side his left leg took a step back. He wasn't sure if it was part of his taijutsu style or if it was done as an unconscious action taken from all his training in kenjutsu.

He explored the movement and focused some of his attacks on the man's right. The foot came out but he did nothing with it. Naruto took a chance and performed a sweeping kick and noticed that the man jumped back with the very foot he took a step back with.

Using that information, Naruto decided to finish the battle. He sent a wave of attacks at the man and with a slight focus on his right. The foot went back and Naruto kicked high at Katsutoshi's face, leaning his body down, close to the ground. The swordsman leaned back slightly in order to jump and Naruto snatched the ankle of the planted foot with his hand. He pulled, getting the man unbalanced, and struck out with his foot that had just missed the man's face. It connected with Katsutoshi's neck and Naruto slammed it into the ground as he pulled on the ankle. His free hand reached into his kunai pouch and pulled one the blades out.

In a swift movement, Naruto plunged the kunai into Katsutoshi's chest and the man let out a soft gasp when his heart was pierced. Naruto didn't move for some time. He had never killed someone before and it was strange that he didn't really feel anything. His mind was blank, maybe in shock that he had survived the battle or it was that he was finally succumbing to blood loss, he didn't know but he had won.

He had survived.

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Please review, favorite, and follow.

Until next time…  
-Unbiased Abyss


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